The Tempest
by Erratta
Summary: Fifth of the Spirit Quintology. When Amity Park is hit by an ectoplasm based illness that affects the entire population, Team Phantom has to work around the clock to stop the problem before things get any worse.
1. Home

**The Tempest**

_Hello again! I'm back from the bottomless pit that is university for a while, and since I promised everyone I'd start posting this this week, I am! _Tempest_ is going to be the last story I write featuring Will Spirit and the gang. Sadly, I don't have time to continue the series and my other stories and get good grades. I'm hoping this will be a good end to the series, though, and I think I've outdone myself in some aspects. I also think this is the shortest chapter by a long shot. The others are longer, I promise!_

_Before we begin, I'd like to thank Golden Lunar Eclipse and Snickerer for betaing the story for me. You've helped a lot guys! Thanks infinity!_

**Chapter 1: Home**

_I do not own Danny Phantom, but I do own Will Spirit, Cathy, Helena, and GEIST._

The crowded and lively auditorium hushed as the tall man of about fifty walked onstage. He paused in front of the podium in the center of the floor space and adjusted the microphone.

"Good evening, and welcome to the third ghost lecture to be sponsored by the city of Amity Park." His voice was authoritative and had a nasal edge. "So far in the series we have discussed the nature of ghosts and ectoplasm, and the basic powers that ghosts have, for which we are indebted to Phantom and Spirit for providing the demonstrations." The man made eye contact with several members of the audience, including a dark-haired teenager sitting in the back with his family.

"Tonight we will continue the series by going over what distinguishes malevolent ghosts from friendly spirits. As you are aware from the previous lectures, ghosts make use of several different colours of ectoplasm, to generate both their bodies and their powers. For good ghosts, the most common colours are green and blue, with purple and pink being the next most prevalent. For malevolent ghosts, the ectoplasm is either green or red, which tends to correspond with the more dangerous types. In addition, fire is a very consistent indicator of a bad ghost, but not all bad ghosts have it."

The man, William Lancer, head of the educational division of the Ghost Education and Information Support Team (GEIST), hit a clicker that he'd taken off the podium, and a moment later a photograph of Danny Phantom appeared on a screen to the side of the stage.

"I don't think I need to tell you that this is an example of a good ghost. Notice how Phantom's eyes are green, as are his ectoblasts and other powers."

He clicked the button again, and a grainy picture of Pariah Dark, the ghost king who had invaded Amity Park two years ago, replaced that of the town's chief protector.

"I trust you all remember this ghost? Good. Notice how red is dominant not only in his powers but also in his clothes. He is also armed, which is another sign of malevolence.

"The good and harmless ghosts tend to obsess about something innocuous, such as dances..." With a third click, a young girl in a medieval gown appeared on-screen.

"Writing..." A pale ghost in a library replaced the girl.

"Or, in the case of Phantom and Spirit, protecting the town.

"On the other hand, ghosts that willfully attack people, state intentions for control, or otherwise seek to cause harm are clearly dangerous. Familiar ghosts of this type are Technus..." With a click, a green ghost in a trench coat materialized on the screen.

"And Spectra." A woman with spiked red hair and a tight-fitting suit replaced Technus, filling half the screen. The other half was taken up with her alternate form, a black mass with glittering pointed teeth and red eyes.

"Be cautious with ghost animals as well. They react more violently than wild animals, and cause more damage. You will find more details on everything in the pamphlets available by the door on your way out, but I've given you the basics already. The most important thing is to trust your instinct. If you want to run, you probably should.

"Now, the next step after recognizing a dangerous ghost is to learn how to protect yourself from them. For this, I would like to call on several students at Casper High, who have prepared a thorough presentation for us. Please help me welcome Paulina Sanchez, Dash Baxter, Valerie Gray, and Tucker Foley." Lancer turned towards stage right and began clapping. The audience took the cue and the four teenagers came onstage. Lancer adjusted the microphone for Tucker, then left.

As Tucker began reading his notes and the others began demonstrating procedures, a woman Lancer's age walked up behind the balding man and slipped her hand into his. They stood watching the performance from backstage for a while before the woman spoke.

"Dani's staying the night at the Fentons. They want to run some tests on her to make sure the stabilization's holding."

Lancer nodded. "Okay. They did say they wanted a checkup after a month. How was she today?"

"Pretty good. She's a bit frustrated with English spelling though. That might be something you want to go over with her."

"All right," the man replied, chuckling. "I think I can understand that. How was _your_ day, Cathy?"

"Fine. Got another package from Matt's lawyer and took it out on the Box Ghost. Met Jazz at the Fentons this afternoon. Nothing much happened other than that." She squinted at the performers again. "Is the Hispanic girl Helena's daughter?"

Lancer looked at Paulina, who was wearing a tight pink shirt that buttoned up the front and a slightly darker pencil skirt. The girl was currently doing a spectacular job of playing Spectra, while Val and Dash showed what do to and what not to do, respectively. He chuckled.

"Is it that obvious?"

The four teens had moved to the end of the stage and bowed to slightly perfunctory applause, so Lancer let go of Cathy's hand and moved back onstage, clapping as well.

"Thank you." He turned back to the audience as the two boys and two girls left the stage. Val was teasing Tucker about something he'd said on stage, by the looks of things.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

---

Half an hour later, the doors of the auditorium opened and the townsfolk of Amity Park spilled out across the parking lot, bundling themselves up against the mid-December chill. The sounds of laughter and gay chatter filled the parking lot as neighbours talked about their Christmas plans, and children chased each other between the parked vehicles.

The noises dimmed for a moment as everyone became aware of the snow that had finally begun falling on the city. Then the laughter increased again as everyone who wasn't already in a good mood felt their spirits lift. No one noticed the grey-skinned ghost floating above the city and sending two beams of red ectoplasm into the cloud cover.

_A/N: Review! Please review! If nothing else, tell me what the ghost's doing…._


	2. Snow

Wow, great response on the first chapter! Keep up it up! Let me know how my writing's improved, and how it could improve further. Please? Thanks to Sasia93, Snickerer, linkmaste, wfea, YumeTakato, Sunshine Silverjojo, The Sorceress of Light, Shadow Crystal Mage, and Celestial Maiden Sukira for reviewing, faving, alerting, etc.

**Chapter 2: Snow**

_I don't own Danny Phantom, Salem's Lot, or The Grinch Who Stole Christmas._

A week after Lancer's Protection Lecture, the merriment that had come with the first snowfall of the year had mostly faded. It hadn't really stopped snowing since that night, and while everyone was glad that they would definitely be having a white Christmas, it was beginning to wear on their nerves. The citizens of Amity Park weren't used to snowdrifts as tall as themselves.

The layer of snow covering everything that night lent an air of calm to the town, except for the area near the jungle gym in the park. Anyone watching the scene would have seen a blue-clad, glowing figure engaged in battle with a white wolf with red ears. Neither seemed able to defeat the other, though it was only a matter of time before the wolf inflicted enough injuries on the man to take him down.

When the wolf leapt on top of him and the blast of blue ectoenergy fired in defense missed, the humanoid ghost, Will Spirit, had a brief moment of panic before using the canine's momentum against it and flipping it over his head onto its back. Spirit sprung back to his feet to face the wolf and grabbed a silver cylinder from his belt, opening it in a movement that came with over a year of practice. A blue-white beam shot out of it and encompassed the stunned wolf, sucking it into the container.

As Spirit placed the cap back on thermos, another glowing figure, this one clothed in black with white hair, stepped out of the trees. A gash in his left arm showed the bright green of his ectoplasm.

"Why do they always come at the same time?" he asked Spirit. "Why can't we ever have a night where there's only one animal attacking?"

Spirit paused from where he was applying pressure to a bite mark on his leg and sighed.

"I don't know, Danny. No one ever said being a superhero was easy."

"Hey!" the boy said, slightly offended. "I know that better than you do." Spirit snorted.

"Just because you've got more experience at fighting... I'm a lot older than you, Danny. I've seen the way the world works." A wisp of blue ectoplasm escaped his mouth, and a similar one, Danny's. "_Salem's Lot!_ Will this night never end?"

"They never do." Danny rose up into the air to try to discover where this new ghost was.

"You're looking too hard, Danny," came a sugary voice from beside the jungle gym. "I'm right here. William! It's marvelous to see you again. I'm glad you've followed your dreams."

"Spectra..." growled Danny. The female ghost whose picture had been part of the last GEIST lecture was standing on the snow, smiling pleasantly. "What's your plan this time? Going to play Grinch this year?"

"No, although that's not a bad idea. I'm just passing through, that's all."

"So where's Bertrand?" Spirit asked. Spectra never travelled without the shapeshifting ghost, but he was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly there was a screech and a giant green eagle crashed into Danny's back, claws extended. The boy hit the ground with a thud.

"I think we found Bertrand, Will!" he yelled as he pulled himself up again. Spirit and one of his duplicates were already fighting off Bertrand, so Danny flew at Spectra, planting both feet on her chest and knocking her into the monkey bars. She dodged the Thermos he had pulled off its strap and ran behind the slide, which repelled the ectoblast Danny sent after her. Spectra started laughing.

A moment later she gave a shriek as the tractor beam of the Fenton Thermos engulfed her, then Bertrand. Danny gave a whoop as he slammed the cap on and another Danny landed beside him.

"I did it!"

Spirit floated over, laughing out of happiness for the boy. Danny had been trying to duplicate himself for just over two years now and he'd finally done it.

"Want to test how many you can do? Maybe you'll beat me," he said encouragingly to the boy. Danny closed his eyes and concentrated. The older ghost watched as each Danny began to split apart, then got stuck at the waist. He sighed.

"Danny, you might want to open your eyes. It's not working."

The teen opened his green eyes and groaned.

"Oh great." He let the two spare torsos recombine with the regular bodies, then reabsorbed his duplicate. "Man, that's got to be the weirdest feeling _ever_."

"You get used to it. Come on, I'll finish driving you home. I think we're done for the night." A ring of light appeared at the ghost's waist, divided, and changed Will Spirit back into William Lancer. A similar ring changed his companion into Danny Fenton, a high school junior.

"What a way to end a tutoring session, huh?" he asked the former teacher. "Thanks for the help with the Shakespeare, by the way."

"Any time, Danny, you know that." Lancer began walking towards a small green car parked nearby, and Danny followed, sliding into the passenger seat once he got there. He strapped himself in, then took a small first aid kit from the glove compartment and began bandaging his arm. Lancer turned his keys in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot.

Several minutes later, he pulled over on a residential street to drop Danny off. The boy got out of the car and crossed the street to his place. Lancer waited until Danny shut the door behind himself, then drove off through the snow towards his own apartment.

---

Danny pulled off his winter coat and hung it on a hook beside the door, then went into the kitchen for a snack. His sister, Jazz, back from Yale for Christmas vacation, was sitting at the table reading a textbook and making notes. Danny took a seat beside her after grabbing a cookie jar off the counter. He set it between him and his sister and took out a piece of shortbread.

"How can you study in the middle of vacation?" he asked incredulously, peering at the open textbook.

"I've got to get ahead, Danny. I want to do well."

"Jazz, you'd do well even if we deprived you of sleep for a week, blindfolded you, and gave you a dead pen for the exam." He pulled the book away from her. "Come watch TV with me. Hang out for once."

"TV rots the brain, Danny," Jazz said exasperated, snatching the book back. "Get your homework and join me."

"I finished everything with Lancer. Now I know you're a month and a half ahead of everyone anyway, so you can afford to take time off to bond with your little brother." He stole the book again, and Jazz yanked it back violently. "Oh, come on Jazz, it's not good for my mental well-being not to spend time with my sister. And it's not good for yours either."

Jazz didn't even react to his psychological teasing. She simply moved her nose closer to the book and start scribbling faster.

"You're making me behind, Danny. Go away."

Danny tried to take Jazz's book one last time.

"Would you stop that?!" she yelled, rising out of her chair and hitting Danny on the side of his head with the book. Then she opened it and went right back to taking notes.

Danny stumbled out of the kitchen slightly dazed and massaging his head.

_Okay, that was weird. She usually apologizes if she hits me that hard._

---

If Danny had wanted to see weird, he should have gone to see Sam instead of heading to his room. The goth had replaced her purple wallpaper with a stark black, onto which she'd plastered environmental and animal rights campaign posters. All other traces of colour in her room had vanished, and she'd done the same to her wardrobe.

Sam was happily spending the evening making a list of all environmental harmfully items in her mansion and removing any trace of animal products as well. There was already a pile of brand name labels, products tested on animals, and similar items spilling out of the dumpster at the end of the road, despite the butler's protests that there wouldn't be anything left in the house by morning. Her parents were at the opera in New York and wouldn't be home until at least noon the next day, but when they walked in the front door, they were going to be greeted by their fiercely independent daughter standing on a pile of furs with a list as long as her body held out in front of her. Sam was really looking forward to it. She hadn't had a good environmentalist rant in months.

---

When Lancer got home, he was greeted by hysterical chaos. His live-in girlfriend, Cathy, was trying to fend off a flock of books that had apparently flown off the bookcase and sprouted teeth. Dani, the clone of Danny who he and Cathy had taken in, was attempting to catch the table lamp, which was engaging her in a game of cat-and-mouse. Both women were alternating between swearing and laughing at the situation. Various other objects in the living room were floating or glowing, clear signs of possession, and judging by the crashes in the background, this wasn't the only room affected.

Lancer groaned and uncapped the Thermos he held in his right hand. Pressing the ON button, he activated the tractor beam and swept it around the room, sucking the excess ectoenergy out of his belongings. Cathy stiffened, then relaxed when she recognized Lancer and thermos. Dani, who'd made a lunge for the lamp, fell onto the floor with a crash. She burst out laughing again.

"Thanks, Will. You'd better do the kitchen too." Cathy pushed an errant strand of hair behind an ear. Lancer nodded and crossed the hall, Thermos held in front of him. He returned half a minute later to find Cathy in the bathroom fetching the first aid kit for his earlier injuries. Dani was lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling dreamily.

"What's wrong, Will?" Cathy asked, crossing the living room towards him. "I haven't seen you that worried in a while. Sit." Lancer did and started talking as Cathy dressed his wounds.

"Danny and I just spent an hour fighting off about six different ghost animals. Then a ghost who hasn't been around for a while showed up, and that's more worrying because she tends to attack children in an attempt to become more 'human.'" Lancer hissed as Cathy dabbed antiseptic on his leg. "And then I get home to find half my possessions possessed without a single ghost around. Something's up, Cathy. Activity levels this high only happen if some major ghost is around, and that's never a good thing."

Dani stood up, looking serious. "We should warn Danny."

"I think he knows something's up. He saw this sort of pattern a few times before I even became a halfa. And I might be reading things into the situation that I shouldn't be."

"You're not," Cathy said bluntly. "Some of my clients today were acting oddly too, taking things to extremes. I thought something might be going on as well."

"You mean they were obsessing, like ghosts do?" Lancer shot Cathy an alarmed look. She nodded.

"I think so." Lancer stood up, ignoring the pain in his leg that resulted from the action.

"Then we've got to tell Danny. I doubt anyone in his family will have noticed that. If regular humans are obsessing, this is getting really bad."

He grabbed the phone from its cradle and hit speed dial. Jazz answered, and hurriedly brought the phone to Danny. She didn't even attempt to make conversation with her former vice-principal.

---

The snow gradually stopped falling in the wee hours of the morning and the clouds lifted, allowing a wan winter moon to bathe city in silver light. On top of the clock tower, an impossibly thin figure stood and smiled, his midnight blue robes flapping around him and his red eyes gleaming in the darkness. Cyclone's plan was working. He could feel the difference already.


	3. Fear

Thanks to Pterodactyl, iluvlucy7, Rebecca the Animorph, Snickerer, Blaidd Drwg, Sasia93, and Shadow Crystal Mage.

**Chapter 3: Fear**

_I do not own Danny Phantom._

Three days after the animal invasion, life in Amity Park was the most paranormally strange it had ever been. The only people not obsessing about something or other were the halfas, who were either immune to the effects because they were half-ghost already or because they'd already developed obsessions of some kind. They hadn't decided yet.

Cathy was driving Lancer and Dani crazy with a firm insistence that the apartment had to be absolutely spotless, but had recognized what she was doing and was trying to curb it. Jack and Maddie Fenton had taken ghost research to the extreme, so Danny was avoiding them as much as possible but hoped that whatever they were doing in the basement would lead to answers as to what was going on. Tucker Foley, Danny's technogeek best friend, was now on par with Technus when it came to technological obsession and couldn't be dragged away from his PDA for anything. Sam, of course, had become obsessed with environmentalism and individuality, and Jazz with her studies.

Casper High wasn't much better than Danny's home life. Dash had fixated on bullying Danny, and the rest of the football team was either obsessing about football or pounding on the other "losers" of the school. Paulina, mercifully, was focusing on her flawless skin, but the rest of the Official Danny Phantom Fan Club had taken their schoolgirl obsession with him to the next level and many were now technically stalking him.

The possession of inanimate objects that Lancer had dealt with in his apartment had now spread to every aspect of Amity Park life, meaning that you couldn't go anywhere without being attacked by something. For example, the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle no longer touched the ground even when Jack wasn't driving it, Tucker's PDA was writing messages to him, and Danny's gym class had spent several periods playing single-team dodgeball.

To top off the list of strange goings-on, the residents of Amity Park (again with the exception of the three halfas) were beginning to take on the physical characteristics of ghosts. Nothing was overly pronounced, but there were definite alterations.

Take Casper High, for instance.

Danny was the only normal looking student in the entire school. Sam was slowly turning violet, Tucker's dark skin had a green tinge to it, and the other students were becoming myriad shades of blue, green, pink, and purple. Dash had appeared that morning sporting fangs and a red glint in his eyes, and he wasn't the only one to exhibit other physical changes. Several students now had hooked noses, pointed ears, or glowing eyes of unusual colours. Others had claws instead of fingernails, or muscles that hadn't been there the week before. Paulina's flawless skin was accented by a light golden aura.

Everyone in town was worried and nervous about what was going on, and Lancer had been working double-time in tandem with the mayor's office and the Fentons to reassure everyone and keep them calm. Unfortunately, this left Danny (and Dani, who'd talked Lancer into letting her fight now that she was stable) to do the dirty work of controlling the paranormal activity as best they could. Luckily, they both seemed to be getting stronger, since three hours of constant fighting barely tired either of them anymore.

Danny and Lancer were also worried that, with all the changes taking place to the population, the halfas would soon be the subject of suspicion, since their appearance wasn't changing. They had discussed this at length with the rest of Team Phantom, to prepare for the event that their cover _was_ blown. The conclusion was that, while keeping the secret was for the best, the halfas were popular with the town and Lancer's educational programs were effective enough that if they were found out, the town would accept them almost without hesitation.

It was late Wednesday afternoon now and the three halfas had taken advantage of a lull in their other duties to get a bit of power testing in at their favourite abandoned warehouse. Lancer was standing in the middle of the room, in ghost form, and Danny, Dani, Sam, and Tucker stood in a rough circle around him, each with a large crate full of junk. They were taking turns throwing the objects at Lancer, who was stopping them with his mind. He had just frozen six baseballs in midair when he called for a break and let the balls sink slowly to the ground.

"This is too easy. Either you guys throw something big, or I try lifting something. I'm barely getting a workout right now."

Danny, also in ghost mode, nodded, and gestured for Dani to follow him. They each picked up an iron girder and lobbed their burdens at Lancer, who sent them flying back against the wall with a noise that startled everyone in the room. He didn't even pause for a rest before lifting them off the ground again with a thought and sending them up to the roof. He brought one down again, slowly, making it spin end over end before letting come to rest on the floor again. Then he brought the second one down in a series of zigzags. The teens surrounding him watched with their eyes wide in awe.

"That's more like it. All right, you two, your turn." Lancer pointed to Danny and Dani, who jumped into the air in preparation.

"Ready, Dani?" Danny asked his "cousin."

"You bet!" She took a deep breath and everyone else covered their ears. Dani opened her mouth and unleashed her newest power, the Ghostly Wail, wobbling slightly out of weakness afterwards. Just as Sam and Tucker started clapping for her, a pillar at one end of the room collapsed several inches with a sickening crunch and humans and halfas alike turned towards it worriedly.

"Um, oops?" Dani bit her lip anxiously and turned red.

The pillar collapsed again and the roof began to cave in.

"Everybody out!" Lancer yelled. "Now!"

Danny caught Sam up in his arms and Lancer grabbed Tucker, and the half-ghosts began to fly them to safety. They made it halfway to the roof before the entire structure gave way and sheets of corrugated metal began crashing down on top of them. Unprepared and disoriented, all three halfas spun out of control and struck the ground, dust rising up as everything fell down around them.

As the dust cleared, the three halfas pulled themselves out of the rubble groggily and immediately began digging for the two full humans. Danny spotted a scrap of red cloth and shouted.

"Hey! I think I found Tucker!" The others rushed over and started helping him. As they were just clearing the last sheet of metal, a voice behind them caused them to drop it again.

"Awesome, dude! You found my hat!" Tucker walked through the ruins, PDA clutched tightly in his hand, and picked up his beret. He straightened up and placed it on his head to stunned silence, then started running diagnoses on his handheld computer, making faint crooning noises of concern. The other stared at him, not because of his actions, which were normal for him, but because Tucker's legs were literally going through a piece of twisted metal. Finally Danny cleared his throat and pointed it out to Tucker, who looked down.

"Sweet! I've got intangibility!" He paled. "Dude, _I've_ got _intangibility_?"

"We've got to find Sam," Lancer said. "We'll worry about that later."

"I'm over here!" came a muffled yell from several yards away. "And I don't know how much longer I can hold this shield!"

_Shield?_ Danny thought, even as he was making his way over to Sam. _She can shield?_

Indeed Sam could. They found her curled into a ball with one hand raised upwards projecting a dome of violet ectoplasm. When they'd cleared the area so she could drop the shield safely, she stood up and spoke in her standard disaffected tone.

"Why did it have to be purple? Black is much better."

"I, um, agree," Danny said quickly, hoping not to excite her obsession. "But I don't think we get a choice." He turned to Lancer. "This isn't good. If people are starting to get powers now... "

"Agreed. I think we need to talk to your parents. They might have some answers for us now."

"Okay." Danny nodded. "Sam, grab on. Will, take Tucker." He turned his back towards Sam, indicating he wanted to piggyback her. Lancer picked up Tucker and both halfas leapt into the air. Dani followed them, invisibly, since she'd been threatened by every other member of Team Phantom that if she blew Danny's secret she would severely regret it, and being seen with him in both forms counted.

When they landed in the Fenton's basement lab, they found Danny's parents bending over a rack of test tubes discussing something in low, serious tones. Or they would have been, if Maddie Fenton hadn't shivered and released a plume of rosy ectoplasm from her mouth when the halfas entered. She turned around to face the newcomers, twitching her husband's orange elbow to make him do the same. She gave a start when she realized how many people were actually present.

"What's wrong?" she asked, knowing that if the whole of Team Phantom had just materialized in her basement looking disturbed, something bad had to have happened. Danny rubbed his neck.

"This might take a while. How 'bout we go upstairs?" He summoned his transformation rings, as with Dani and Lancer, but they all seemed to stick at the waist. The three halfas concentrated and forced the rings apart. After a moment, they began to move smoothly again, but once the halfas returned to their human forms they were tired and sweating.

The worry everyone was exuding by that point was voiced by an anxious yet laid-back voice near the Ghost Portal.

"Man, that didn't look too good. What's goin' on?"

A neon pink hippie was hovering in front of the swirling ectoplasm, clashing with it spectacularly.

_Heh, I'm evil, aren't I? Review, please! _


	4. Contaminated

Thanks to Snickerer, YumeTakato, Celestial Maiden Sukira, Shadow Crystal Mage, Qu, Sasia93, Tamarind djinni, and Ikchen.

_Qu: Yep, I did! Figured he needed to. And you're just gonna have to wait and see what happens. As for the colours, it's the second option. More fun my way, and yes, the obsessions are meant to be that way. The hat? Well, since it and Tucker's head are rarely separated, it's a pretty easy assumption that they'd be in the same place..._

**Chapter 4: Contaminated**

_I don't own Danny Phantom_ _or A Clockwork Orange_.

"Aster?" Danny and Lancer asked simultaneously. Danny added, "I thought we said you had to ask before coming for more emotions."

"That's why I'm here, man," the hippie replied, moving slightly further into the room. "Thought that since it's Christmas and all, maybe I could hang for a while?" He sounded very hopeful.

"I don't know, Aster," Lancer said. "It might not be the best time..."

"Oh come on! I even brought my own Santa hat!" Aster held up the fuzzy red triangle as proof, looking hurt.

"We're serious," Danny told him. "There's a lot of weird things going on right now and it's looking like a pretty dangerous ghost is behind it. Everyone's afraid and worried, and you might make things worse." Aster's playful grin faded.

"That sounds hairy. You need help cracking it? I might have a different take."

"That might be a good idea," Lancer agreed. "That is, if everyone's all right with it."

"I don't see why not," Maddie Fenton answered, pulling off her hood and goggles. "He _could_ be useful."

They began to file upstairs, Lancer last, since he was the hardest hit by the exertion needed to become human again. He'd just placed his foot on the bottom step when he let out a gasp of ectoplasm and groaned. He didn't want to have to fight today. He turned around and readied an ectoblast, then hastily banished it again when he saw the ghost.

"_Writer_? Wha... What are you doing here? You never leave the Ghost Zone." The pale ghost tugged at his purple coat.

"You haven't come by in three months, William. I got worried that something had happened."

Lancer blushed. "Something has, but not in a bad way. I'm fine, Writer, just busy."

"Glad to hear it," the Ghost Writer smiled. "But talking might help you unwind..."

_I know he likes my company, but could he actually _miss _me? I didn't think he was quite that lonely..._ "It might," Lancer conceded. "But now's not a good time. I'll visit, but it could be a few days. We're in the middle of something, and..."

"A something involving a lot of mysterious ectoplasm?" the Ghost Writer drew his eyebrows together. Lancer blinked.

"That might explain things. How did you...?"

"I've heard rumours recently. The Ghost Zone's excited about it, but I haven't heard why yet."

That sparked a flurry of thoughts in Lancer.

_The Ghost Zone's excited? I think I can see why, a little. If everyone's turning into ghosts like I suspect, the real ghosts might be able to hold a coup on the humans. Doesn't explain why or how this is all happening, though, or how long we have to stop things. I hope Jack and Maddie have some answers._

"Will!" Danny's light voice coming from upstairs interrupted his reflections. "You coming?"

"Yes!" Lancer called back. "But we've got more company."

Danny reentered the lab again at that, worried that Lancer was under attack. He came to a dead stop when he realized that the Ghost Writer was floating in the middle of the room.

"Errr..."

"I came to check up on William," the Ghost Writer explained, "and it seems I may know something about what's going on." He adjusted his glasses and smiled pointily. Danny looked at Lancer for reassurance, since the ghost was more the man's friend than his own. Lancer nodded, and Danny looked back at the scholarly ghost.

"Well, then, I guess you should probably join the discussion too. Come on. I don't think we want to keep my parents waiting."

Danny sprinted back upstairs and Lancer and the Ghost Writer followed more calmly. Once in the living room, the two halfas jointly introduced the writer. He was given polite hellos from everyone except Aster, who gave an exuberant "Merry Christmas!"

The first order of business was to explain to the two new ghosts what was going on in Amity Park. Danny started with a description of the wave of animals that had appeared several days earlier, and how Spectra had shown up afterwards. Lancer took over from him and covered the possessions and obsessions, then Dani described the physical changes the townsfolk had undergone. Aster and Writer, as he'd asked to be called, both nodded during that part, since they'd notice the tinges of ghostly colour in the skin of the humans present. Lancer finished the summary of events with a mention of how he (and Danny and Dani) had found it difficult to turn human in the lab.

At that point, Maddie took over the conversation, explaining with unconsciously exaggerated excitement what she and her husband had discovered.

"Jack and I have spent the last few days examining every possible way this spectralization could be happening. We've narrowed it down on a single possibility: ectoplasmic contamination." Lancer stiffened slightly and shot a glance at Writer, who grinned smugly.

"We also know how the ectoplasm is entering our bodies," Maddie continued. "It's found its way into the water supply, and from there into our clothes, our belongings, our food, and eventually into us as well. From the tests we've run on ourselves, the ectoplasm appears to be replacing our human molecules, similar to what it's done for the halfas. We don't know what or where the initial supply of ectoplasm is coming from yet."

"Yeah!" Jack almost literally jumped into the conversation. "It explains why we're all getting powers..." He demonstrated his intangibility by moving his hand through a lamp "...and why you three find it easier to be ghosts. You're getting ectoplasm in your systems too. I'd even bet you've all got new powers, or stronger ones too!"

"What sort of further effects can we expect, then?" Danny asked, feeling more worried than usual. A few ideas flashed through his head: everyone in town a full ghost; him stuck as Phantom, unable to ever change back; the contamination spreading throughout the county... "Well?" he asked his parents again anxiously.

"Well, you can probably think of a few," his mom answered. "But the immediate concerns are these..." She produced a list from a pouch in her utility belt and began reading.

"One: continued exposure to ectoplasm at the current levels will result in every resident of Amity Park becoming equal parts of human and ghost, given the levels of ectoplasm the current hybrids contain. We estimate that this will occur in approximately one week's time. Any further exposure, and everyone will, of course, become more and more ghostlike until they become full ghosts.

"Two: any further exposure to ectoplasm which the three resident hybrids receive will result in heightened ghostly abilities along with a greater inability to take on their human form. It is even possible that if enough contamination of their bodies has occurred that any use of power in their human form will cause them to transform involuntarily and remain that way until, again, they absorb enough ectoplasm to become full ghost.

"Three: all usage of water must be discouraged within Amity Park, effective immediately, and a warning must go out informing people of what's going on and advising them to remain indoors at all times.

"Four: it may be possible to separate the ectoplasm from everyone using the Fenton Ghost Catcher, but we cannot guarantee that this will have the desired effect. It certainly will not be a permanent solution and we cannot force people to go through it.

"Fifth and finally: we cannot use the Fenton Ghost Shield to prevent the spread of the contaminant, since the ectoplasm has become a part of our bodies and therefore we will not be able to cross the barrier." Maddie folded the paper again and everyone else leaned back, sighing. Aster looked slightly puzzled.

"In English, please?" he asked.

Danny answered him. "If we don't stop this in a week, everyone's going to be a halfa. Will, Dani, and I are going to have harder and harder times going human, even if we get more powerful, and it'll probably get to the point where we'll go ghost permanently. We're going to tell people not to use water or go outside, and use the Ghost Catcher on anyone who wants it. We can't use the shields to stop this, because it'll just prevent everyone moving around."

"Ghost Catcher? Shields?"

Danny sighed and explained the inventions to Aster, with his father butting in periodically. Then he asked the Ghost Writer what he'd meant by the ghosts getting excited, and the thin spirit explained.

"Every ghost I've come in contact with over the last two weeks has been talking about something big happening in Amity Park. What I've been able to piece together is that a massive amount of ectoplasm has been added to everything in town, that there's a ghost behind it, and whatever his plan is, a lot of ghosts want in on it."

Danny and Lancer both glared at Aster, who silently and believably protested their implicit accusations.

"I suspect," Writer continued, "that it's something to do with the nature of life, which fits with what Mrs. Fenton said about ectoplasm replacing the normal molecules. Also, there's been talk for about the same length of time concerning some sort of ghostly alliance. Ghosts have been meeting secretly with a vampiric ghost of some sort, and there's talk of an empire being formed."

"An e-empire?" stuttered Tucker. "Vlad's starting an empire?"

"Hey! That wouldn't be Vlad as in Vlad Plasmius, would it?" Aster queried. "'Cause he came to my lair about a week ago. Said he wanted people to help him with something, didn't say what. He was kinda blue-ish."

"What _else_ did he say?" Danny asked tensely.

"Well, nothing, really. But I did get the impression that he'd heard about something and wanted to exploit it. Nasty piece of work. Absolute slime." Aster's expression softened slightly. "Stronger emotions than I've felt from a ghost, too..."

"Try a halfa," Sam said. Aster blinked.

"Plasmius is a _halfa_? Man. That is... wild. Doesn't look anything like you three. And you don't get along with him, I'm guessing?"

"Not _exactly_. He's stopped actively trying to kill us and said he was giving up his schemes, but if. He's. Starting. An. _Empire_..." Danny trailed off, his rage inexpressible with words.

"Look," Lancer interrupted, laying a hand on Danny's shoulder to calm him. "I know the Vlad thing is huge, but I think this ectoplasm issue's a bigger problem at the moment. We've got to figure out who this ghost is and why he's doing it, and we've got to warn people about what's going on."

"Yeah, and we can't use any of our powers to do it," sighed Dani, who'd been silent up till then. The others looked at her curiously, not clueing in to what she meant. "Well, if any of us use our powers it could make us go ghost and stay that way... Aww, and I was just getting to use my powers again too." She sunk back into the couch in a funk and Lancer sat down beside her. He put an arm around her shoulder and drew her to his chest to comfort her. Then he looked up at the many other faces in the room.

"Dani's got a good point. We're going to need someone else, Valerie maybe, to do the scouting for us."

"And let Val near the ghost alone?" Tucker almost shouted. "No way is that going to happen." His eyes, which had flared a bright emerald green, dimmed again.

"I'll do it," Aster said, raising his arm. "I mean, it's the least I can do to repay you guys, and I'm going to be flying around anyway. I doubt he's got any sort of attack that can harm me."

"Or _she_," muttered Sam darkly. Everyone ignored her.

"Okay," Lancer said, becoming businesslike, "Aster's going to play scout, then, and we might still get Valerie to help a little. The rest of us should be on the lookout for anything unusual at all times. I'll get the warnings out as soon as I can, and I'll need your help, Jack and Maddie, for the press conference. The three of us are not to use our powers under any circumstances, unless we're sure the ghost is the one who's causing everything. Jack, Maddie, can you two see what else you can come up with that might be useful?"

"You got it, Will!" Jack boomed, jumping up and running downstairs to the lab, his wife hot on his heels. The idea of more research was very powerful to both of them at the moment.

"And me?" the Ghost Writer asked. "You haven't given me a task yet, William."

"Will. And I wouldn't want to force anything on you, Writer. There's no need for you to get involved."

"Very well, Will," Writer answered, amused. "But since I'm here, maybe we could catch up? I'd like to see your apartment, and find out why you've been so busy."

"I suppose we could do that," agreed Lancer. "Danny, can you call Valerie and let her know what's going on, please?"

"On it!" Tucker pulled out his cell phone and hit one of his speed-dial numbers. "Val? Hey, it's Tucker... Good. You?... Oh. Umm ... He _what_?... Want me to beat him up for you?... Heh. Right. Black belt."

Danny poked Tucker and mimed for him to get on with it. Tucker glared at him for interrupting his flirting.

"Right, so anyway, Val, we've figured out what's going on. Well, the Fentons have... Somebody's adding ectoplasm to the water... We'll all be halfas in a week, and the real halfas might get stuck as ghosts... Yep, _we're_ all getting powers too... And Aster's back. He's going to help us look for the ghost... Kinda sounds like Vlad's doing stuff in the Zone, too... Look, you want to go somewhere to blow off steam?... Great! I'll see you then!" Tucker flicked his phone closed and turned back to Danny and Lancer.

"How the _heck_ did you just get a date out of that?" Danny asked, amazed. Tucker blushed green.

"It's not a date. Irving fired her today, after she developed eye rays and hit a box of Nasty Sauce packets in the storeroom. I'm just comforting a friend, that's all."

"Ri-ight," Sam said sarcastically, her eyes turning a brighter purple. "Danny, you said you'd take me to that documentary. If we leave now, we'll have time to get organic popcorn and hand out those pamphlets about sweatshops to everyone in the lobby. I got Henri to print them out last night, and Fritz made the buttons. I was too busy with the anti-fur campaign. Isn't this a good slogan, Danny?" She held out a black badge with the words "THEIR BLOOD, OUR MONEY" in red lettering. Danny eyed it warily.

"Anything else I need to do, Will?" Lancer shook his head at Danny. "Okay then. Sam, we'll take the car. I'm not going ghost." Danny grabbed a key ring from beside the door and left with Sam. Lancer turned his attention back to Dani and Aster, who was attempting to make the girl laugh.

"Dani, we need to be getting home. Cathy's going to worry." Lancer sighed. "And I suppose we'll have to walk, since it's too dangerous to go ghost."

"Hey, man, you don't need to do that!" Aster exclaimed, rising from his seat beside Dani. "Writer and I will fly you. I know the way." The Ghost Writer jumped and glared at Aster with momentarily red eyes for being volunteered. Lancer held out a hand to stop his friend from attacking the hippie.

"Thanks, Aster. If you don't mind then, could you take Dani, since you two seem to have hit it off? The walk will give me time to catch up with Writer."

"Okay, man." Aster turned to Dani for permission to pick her up. She nodded and he wrapped his arms around her. "This good, scamp?"

"Yep!" Dani chirped, and Aster took off. Lancer looked after the duo for a moment, smiled slightly at how quickly the two seemed to have made friends, then headed for the front door.

"I've never asked, Writer. Can you go invisible?" he asked, slinging his coat on.

"I believe I can," the ghost said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure if I've ever tried." the Ghost Writer concentrated and vanished. His disembodied voice spoke a moment later, sounding slightly amused.

"Well, it seems to have worked..."

"Yes," Lancer said, "it does." He wrapped his scarf around his neck, opened the front door, and stepped outside. After waiting a moment for his friend to exit after him, he shut the door and hurried down the steps, Writer following invisibly. The two of them began to make their way in silence towards Lancer's apartment. Lancer's feet sank deep into the unshovelled sidewalks.

After a few moments, Writer spoke from near Lancer's left elbow.

"So why are you going by Will as a human? I thought you said it wasn't you."

"People change, Writer. The last three months have seen some pretty big changes in my life. I'm more relaxed now. I'm having _fun_."

"About time, if you don't mind my saying so," Writer laughed. "What are the changes, then?"

Lancer thrust his hands into his coat pockets. "Well, for one thing, there's Danielle."

"The girl? She looks a lot like Danny did when I first ran into him."

Lancer nodded at his friend's astute observation. "She's his clone. Vlad made her. I found her at Ghost Zone High and took her in." He chuckled. "It's made life a lot more interesting."

"I bet it has. So you're parenting now?" the Ghost Writer raised an invisible eyebrow. Just _what_ had this man been getting up to without him? "What else?"

"GEIST's in full swing and doing well. The lectures I've given have been successful, and I've been working overtime the last few weeks because of the contamination issues."

They passed a green-skinned mother leading a toddler with pointed ears by the hand into a small public park. She looked at Lancer oddly when she noticed he was talking to thin air, but shrugged it off as another effect of the contamination. When they were out of earshot again, the Ghost Writer spoke again, with a slight tone of chastisement in his voice.

"What are you trying to avoid mentioning, Will?"

Lancer snorted. "It's obvious?" He paused and turned around at where he thought his companion would be. "I'm living with Cathy." The Ghost Writer suddenly became visible, looking shocked and floating three inches to the right of where Lancer was looking.

"Is this the Cathy you couldn't stop talking about this summer?" he asked. "You're _living_ with her?" Lancer nodded as he turned to face the ghost.

"She's the biggest reason I haven't been coming by. I've just wanted to spend my spare time with her instead. I'm sorry for choosing a woman over you."

Writer chuckled. "I don't blame you, Will." He went invisible again and they moved on. "I would have done much the same thing, I think. I thought you said you'd never have a chance with her?" he chided.

"She's divorcing her husband and came here to get away for a while," Lancer explained. "I ended up telling her I loved her, and she stayed."

"You mean to tell me she loves you _back_?" Writer asked, trying to keep his laughter under control. _He was the_ only one _who didn't notice that. _I _noticed that, and I've never even seen them together_.

They continued walking, Lancer sharing continuous anecdotes about the two spunky women who'd entered his life and his ghostly friend laughing along with him. Finally they arrived at Lancer's apartment building and climbed the stairs to his floor. Lancer unlocked the door and stepped inside. Cathy came out of the kitchen as he was hanging up his coat, holding an envelope. Her face was flushed a sapphire blue and she was grinning.

"It's final, Will!" she burst out. "I'm Cathy Sanders again!"

"Cathy, that's wonderful!" Lancer caught her up in a hug and kissed her. The Ghost Writer, still invisible, grinned.

"You're finally rid of him," Lancer continued, releasing Cathy. She whacked him with the envelope.

"You sound like you don't like him," she said playfully.

"I'm just happy for you," Lancer protested. "You know that. Now Cathy, I'd li-" She cut him off, becoming slightly more serious, though still ecstatic.

"I want to show you what I learned today. Come on." She pulled her middle-aged boyfriend into the living room and released him. "I found this out when I was doing laundry. Watch."

A look of concentration spread over her features, and then suddenly Cathy was replaced by a blue mist. Before Lancer could process exactly what had happened, there were two sharp taps on his shoulder. He jumped six inches in the air and whirled around to see Cathy grinning at him.

"Pretty neat, huh?" she asked him. Lancer clutched his chest, where his heart was beating like crazy.

"_Clockwork Orange_, Cathy. Don't _ever_ do that to me again."

"Sorry," the woman apologized, then half rolled her eyes and smirked. "I didn't think I'd be getting powers."

"Nor did I," drawled Lancer. "Cathy, there's someone I'd like you to meet. I ran into him at the Fenton's. Writer? When you're ready."

Cathy had time to ask, "What were you doi-?" before a tall glowing man with a curly goatee appeared several feet from her and Lancer. It was a credit to her constitution that she barely batted an eye at his sudden presence.

"Let me guess," she said, turning to face the ghost and quirking an eyebrow. "The Ghost Writer?"

The ghost in question chuckled and raised an eyebrow back at her. "You've heard of me?"

"From day one. Will counts you as one of his closest friends, you know."

"I'm right here..." Lancer warned them.

"I know." Cathy turned briefly to look at him before focusing on the pale ghost again. "So how come you're here? Will said you didn't leave the Ghost Zone."

"He hasn't been round in a while. Thought I'd come say hello." His response seemed to satisfy her, since she nodded and asked if he'd like tea or coffee. Writer answered, "Tea, please," and the woman headed into the kitchen. Lancer followed her, asking if Dani had come back yet.

"No," Cathy called back with an edge of worry. "Was she supposed to?"

Before Lancer could get decently worried, a male voice spoke from near the window.

"We're here, guys. Easy." Aster and Dani reappeared as they touched ground. Aster released the girl, who turned around and hugged him, then ran into her bedroom excitedly. Aster looked at Lancer and spoke again. "We took a detour. I figured you'd want to introduce Writer there before we showed."

_He can think ahead like that?_ Lancer asked himself in surprise. _I thought he always lived in the moment. He's deeper than he lets on, that's for sure. But wait, I think I _knew_ that..._

"Fine. Cathy's making tea. I'll introduce you," he said aloud, just as Dani popped her head around her bedroom door.

"Hey Aster! I found it! Come on." Her head disappeared again. Aster grinned.

"Sorry, Will. Could I take a raincheck, maybe?" He barely waited for Lancer to nod before phasing through the fourteen-year-old's bedroom wall. Lancer stared blankly at the wall for a moment before shaking his head clear of the confusion and signaling for the Ghost Writer to follow him into the kitchen.

On their way, he muttered to his friend, "We'd better tell Cathy everything before she asks. It's easier."


	5. Demons

Thanks to YumeTakato, Shadow Crystal Mage, Quacked Lurker, Snickerer, Clones-for-Breakfast, and Sasia93.Anyone else who wants to see their name up here should review.

**Chapter 5: Demons**

_Danny Phantom non est meus, et non erat._

Several days later, not much had changed in Amity Park. People were still becoming more and more ghostlike, but this was voluntary now, since the Fentons had made their Ghost Catcher available to the public. Having ghostly attributes had become a fad and a sign of support for the town heroes, especially among the teenage population, many of whom were flagrantly violating the outdoors ban in order to strengthen their traits. Everyone who'd kept their ectoplasm was now publicly and proudly using their ghost powers as well. They were too caught up in everything to notice that Phantom and Spirit had disappeared from the Amity Park scene. Among the people who'd gone through the Ghost Catcher were the Fentons, who felt the ectoplasm was interfering with their objectivity, and the Mayor.

It was Aster who finally saw the ghost, his dark blue robes whipping around him as he surveyed the town with a vicious grin on his thin face. His posture reminded the hippie of every other villain he'd seen, so Aster decided to investigate further. It wasn't like he was putting his existence at risk since he simply absorbed ectoplasm in all forms thanks to his necklace, and whatever information he could get would please Team Phantom, and earn him emotions to boot. Aster flew up to where the evil-looking ghost was gloating above the clouds.

"Hey, man. Nice view from up here, huh?" The grey ghost turned his head slowly to glare at Aster with small red eyes. His stare barely fazed the hippie, who continued chattering blithely.

"So, you enjoying all the groovy people here? I am." The ghost continued glaring. Aster tried a different tack.

"So, what's your major power, man? You look like you've probably got something wicked, know what I mean?" The ghost curled a thin lip at that, revealing pointed yellowing teeth. He spoke in a flat, deadly tenor.

"You're annoying." The hippie grinned wider.

"So I hear." Aster shrugged. "So, you gonna tell me or not? I promise I won't tell a living soul." He placed a hand on the left side of his chest for emphasis.

"Look," he continued, "you can hit me with your biggest blast if I break it."

"You tell me your power first," the second ghost sneered.

"Okay. I can teleport."

"That's _it_?"

"Yup. That's it!" Aster beamed happily and pointed at the figure before him. "Your turn."

"Very well. I don't see you being able to stop me, so I'll tell you." The ghost dropped his voice down an ominous octave. "Any ectoplasm I generate can infiltrate humans and replace their molecules."

"So that's why all those cats are turning green." Aster tried to sound surprised even though he already pretty much knew that piece of information. "What's that do for _you_, though?"

"The more ectoplasm they absorb, the less normal matter they have. And all that matter goes to me."

"So you're trying to become human or something?"

"No, not human. Just as powerful as these halfas I've heard of. I'm almost there, so you'd better keep your word." Aster gulped.

"Look, man, I'm no fink." He raised his arms in defensive protest. "Gives me bad karma, see? Hey, you got a handle? I'm Aster."

"It's Cyclone. Now _leave_." Cyclone's dark voice dripped poison.

"'Kay, man. Don't get yourself in a knot about it. I'm goin'." Aster started to fly off, then seemed to think of something and turned around again. "Hey, you ever hear of this cat called Plasmius?"

A blot of ruby ectoplasm shot at him and Aster narrowly avoided it.

"Okay, I'll take that as a no. Later, man!" Aster pulled himself into a sharp dive and headed back to Amity Park.

---

Meanwhile, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, and Valerie Gray were currently sitting down to lunch in the Casper High Cafeteria. They'd successfully made it through another morning of keeping Danny's secret in the face of obsessive bullying, and all four teens were exhausted.

"Guys," Danny said as he collapsed onto a bench. "I don't think I can keep this up much longer. It's a strain just to be human." He sighed. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad just to go ghost and stay that way for a while. It's not like I'm Public Enemy No. 1 anymore."

"Dude, you can't be serious," Tucker answered. "What if you never change back?"

"You don't listen to the Fentons, do you, Tucker?" Valerie, skin and hair tinged green, asked. "They said there's still going to be human in him for a few more days. We defeat this ghost, and it'll be fine."

"See, Tuck, Val agrees with me."

"Do not. I'm just defending the Fentons. I still think you guys should just let me blast the spook. I've got the equipment and the training…."

"And the obsession," Tucker mumbled, then ducked as Val shot a pair of rays at him.

"Hey!" said Sam, with just a trace of feeling, "as much as I'd love to see a fight right now, and I mean that in the best possible way, maybe we'd better worry about that." She pointed at a blonde, green-skinned jock with red eyes and prominent fangs who'd just proudly entered the canteen. Danny groaned.

"I can't take another session with Dash." He cradled his head in his hands. "If he goes after me again, I'm fighting back. I don't care."

"Danny!" hissed Sam. "You can't!"

"I said _if_, Sam," Danny answered tensely. He stood up and started to make his way towards the opposite side of the cafeteria. Unfortunately, Dash noticed him anyway.

"Hey, look guys, it's Fen-tongue! You know, I think I've been going about this _all wrong._ I wonder what happens to geeks when I do this?" He sent an ectoblast at Danny, throwing him into a stack of trays. "Whatsa matter, loser? Can't fight back? Didn't get any powers?" He sent another blast at Danny, pushing him back down onto the floor. The cafeteria laughed and Danny pulled himself up, glaring, to face the bully.

"F.Y.I., Dash, I _did_ get powers. And I think it's about time I used them."

"Danny, no!"

Sam ran forward to restrain her boyfriend, but he'd already summoned an ectoblast of his own and sent it in Dash's direction. It hit the jock square on his chest and sent him crashing into the A-list table. Three hundred heads watched his trajectory, then snapped back to Danny, stunned that he had actually fought back and had powers he hadn't shown. Three hundred heads watched in shock as a band of white light that had appeared at Danny's waist split apart despite the boy's obvious attempt at resistance. The two halves began moving in opposite directions and three seconds later, half the school had witnessed their classmate's complete transformation into Danny Phantom.

Surprisingly, it was Dash who spoke first from where he lay on the floor.

"F-Fenton?"

"Yeah. Now you know." Danny looked up into the faces of the crowd. "I'm Phantom. I got my powers in an accident two years ago. It's like what you guys have, just a lot more. I know you'll be acting different around me now, but I'd like it if you kept it under control. Spirit and I are trying to stop a difficult ghost right now, and a lot of pestering is just going to get in the way."

His words broke the dazed spell and most of the Phantom Fan Club began running towards him, their obsession with him taking control of their actions. Sam leapt in front of Danny and conjured a shield to keep them at bay. She turned to Danny questioningly.

"Okay, what now?"

"We go somewhere to talk this out, and let the rest of the Team know. When I say go, drop the shield, Sam." He grabbed Sam's spare wrist and Valerie's gun hand. "Tuck, you've got intangibility, so you're taking yourself. Go!"

Sam dropped the shield, the fangirls surged, and Danny pulled his friends down into the meat locker, collapsing onto a crate of pork sausages.

"Are you sure you can't change back?" Sam asked.

Danny tried, and failed. "Yep. Just like we thought."

"We'll protect you, Danny," said Tucker, picking himself up from a smashed container of pre-made meatloaf. "Whatever happens, we're there for you, dude."

"I just hope we can stop that ghost before the press gets too into this," Val said, pulling an ectogun out of somewhere. (No one knew how she kept them hidden, really.) "And before he does any more damage to everyone. This is getting out of control."

"Agreed. You're going to have to field questions from everyone at school," Sam warned.

"I know." Danny sighed. "I've just got to compose my thoughts. At least they like me now, mostly."

The four teens stiffened as they heard footsteps on the stairs. When a girl dressing in pink turned a corner into their view, Danny stood up to face her, uncertain. Paulina walked up to the group, but stopped at a distance.

"You've been Phantom the whole time?" she asked.

"Yeah." The halfa stood up and blushed uncomfortably.

"You wanted to join your own fan club?"

"_No_," Danny said emphatically. "My archenemy wanted me to. He was trying to tear my support group apart."

"Oh." Paulina looked downcast for a moment, before perking up and asking, "Do you need help?"

"Help?"

"Yes. You know, like protection or fighters or someone to stop the rest of the club from attacking you? I've got control over almost everyone, you know."

"Thanks," Danny replied gratefully. "I'm not sure what we'll need, but thanks. You don't want me for yourself?" Paulina thought for a moment and shook her head.

"You're Sam's. I still think Phantom's hot and all, but Fenton's never really been my type, and since you're the same person..."

"Okay." Danny sounded relieved. "Look, I've got to tell my parents what's happened. Val, can you get in touch with Spirit?"

Val nodded and pulled out a cell phone, as did Danny. They headed off to opposite ends of the meat locker, leaving Sam, Tucker, and Paulina alone for the moment. The three of them stood around awkwardly for a minute or so before Paulina pressed for details and the others explained. She had a right to know, a little, since she was somewhat friends with the group now.

_---_

The telephone rang in Lancer's apartment and Cathy, hands dripping wet, answered. The voice on the other line sounded nervous and panicked.

"Cathy, can you come over to the office? We've got a problem."

"I'm doing the dishes."

"Leave them. This is more important."

"All right, I'll..."

_Click. _

Cathy sighed and set the tea towel down on the counter. Then she shut her eyes and visualized the entrance to Lancer's office. When she opened them again, she was standing outside it. Cathy smiled proudly. That was the furthest she'd teleported all week. She'd be sad to see the power go. It had some great possibilities she hadn't exploited yet.

A bell rang as Cathy opened the door to the office and stepped inside. The Hispanic secretary, Helena, looked up from her computer screen angrily, not welcoming the disturbance. She now had a slight lavender tint to her skin and hair, and had altered her wardrobe to accent it. Scattered across her desk were photographs, newspaper clippings, figurines, and other memorabilia, all featuring Will Spirit.

_So Will _wasn't_ being paranoid about her._ Cathy glared at Helena. "I'm here to see Will."

"Fine, honey. Just go right in."

Cathy did, and stopped dead in the doorway.

"Shut the door!" Spirit demanded. He was sitting glumly in Lancer's desk, cradling his head in his hands.

"What happened?" Cathy asked, approaching the ghost. "I thought you said..."

"I know. I went intangible to get something out of the desk, not thinking, and then suddenly I couldn't control the transformation. I'm stuck."

"That is a problem. Well, the town's supportive so it shouldn't be that bad." Cathy sat down on the corner of his desk.

"What about Helena?" Lancer asked. "She's not the only one who's become obsessed with Spirit either. And then there's Danny..." The phone rang and Lancer answered.

"Hello?" There was muffled squawking on the other end, Lancer managed to interject a "me too," and then the phone clicked off. Lancer groaned.

"Danny's stuck too. That was Valerie."

"And that means the moment Dani uses her powers..."

"Let's just hope she doesn't. I should probably call an emergency meeting, get out a press release..."

Cathy grabbed Lancer's desk phone. "I'll call the Fentons. Get started on that release. It's Lancer's job to do it, after all."

"Right. This feels a little surreal."

"That's because it is." Cathy dialed the Fentons, who answered immediately. "Maddie, we've got a problem... Yes, how did you know?"

---

While the halfas were dealing with personal issues, Aster had found the person he was looking for right where he'd expected him to be — a forgotten corner of the public library.

"Writer! Baby! How's it goin', man?"

"Just fine," the scholar answered tersely. "What do you want? You're not _my_ friend."

"I ran into the ghost," Aster answered, "and I promised I wouldn't tell a living soul."

"So you came to me?" Aster nodded. "Well, I suppose that's logical. Then I'll tell Will?" Another nod, then Aster spoke.

"Name's Cyclone. He's doing it to become a halfa, and it's working. Grey skin, red eyes, yellow teeth, blue robes, thinks I'm harmless." The Ghost Writer set his lips together and gave a curt nod.

"Thank you." The bespectacled ghost rose into the air. "I'm going to find Will. Make yourself useful." He went through the ceiling. Aster brought his eyes back down and sighed. There wasn't anything he could _do_ to make himself useful. Well, other than tell Danny, but Aster didn't break promises.

Aster grinned. If he couldn't be useful, he was going to do the next best thing. He went invisible and, whistling, went to find the librarian.


	6. Meetings

_Thanks to Shadow Crystal Mage, Sasia93, Quacked Lurker, Snickerer, Jenelf, YumeTakato, and Melissa45. Wow, new people! Keep 'em coming!_

**Chapter 6: Meetings**

_I do not own Danny Phantom or the Goldberg Variations._

Danny, Sam, Tucker, Valerie, and Paulina had just finished their impromptu strategy conference in the basement of Casper High, and they'd had to make it quick. Lunch was about to end, and by that time the entire school, teachers included, would know Danny's secret. And the whole town would know Lancer's soon after that, by the sounds of it. They gave a quiet cheer of solidarity, and headed back upstairs and to their positions. They only had ten minutes to get everything done, so they had to hurry.

---

Sam Manson poked her head into a classroom and caught the attention of the cerulean-skinned man sitting at the desk playing with the alien dolls that were the main sign of his obsession. He jumped, disappeared for a moment, then reappeared, put the toys down guiltily, and acknowledged the goth's presence.

"Mr. Spears?" she asked, entering the room fully. "I'm here about Danny." Spears nodded.

"I've heard rumours. Students are saying he's Phantom himself." The teacher chuckled. "Let me guess... Danny's gone off somewhere to hide from the false fangirls for the rest of the day."

"Actually...," Sam started, moving over the teacher's desk, "they're not rumours." Spears stiffened in his chair.

"_Goldberg Variations_! Sam, you're not trying to tell me my student is a _ghost_?"

"Half-ghost," corrected a male voice just behind Sam. Danny became visible again and gave a shy grin to his teacher. "Hey."

"Danny?" the man asked, making eye contact with the boy. "Care to explain?" Danny rubbed his neck nervously and came forward slightly.

"Okay. Basically Dash attacked me again, I fought back, went ghost, got stuck. It's because of the ectoplasm. I've got more of it now than human." Spears blinked. "Okay, you meant the whole halfa thing in general? Right... so, couple years ago I tried to get my parents' Ghost Portal working and got shocked. Woke up like this."

"And you've been fighting ghosts ever since? No wonder your grades were so bad..." A half-forgotten memory surfaced in Spears' mind, prompting a further question as the man moved around the desk to be closer to the two teens. "Does William Lancer know?"

"W-why would you think that?" Danny asked nervously, then winced. Spears could have sworn he'd just seem Sam do something painful to Danny's back.

"Because he gave me a story about your parents that no one else had ever heard of, and he's been tutoring you, right?"

Danny blushed.

"Okay, so he knows. It's a long story, and I _don't_ have time right now to go into it. Maybe later." Danny looked nervously towards the door, where students could be seen heading excitedly to their lockers and gossiping about Fenton/Phantom. "Um, look, I've really got to try to find that ghost before things get worse. Could I maybe be excused from study hall today?" Spears looked hard into Danny's glowing eyes.

"That depends. Is your work done?"

"Yes," Danny answered confidently. "I turned in the essay this morning, remember?" Spears nodded and smiled.

"Then I suppose you can. And I'll excuse Tucker too." Danny brightened. He hadn't truly been expecting that gesture from the teacher.

"Really? Great. Thanks!" He grabbed Sam's wrist and turned to leave, then thought of something and turned back. "Mr. Spears? It's probably going to be a nightmare in study hall today. Good luck." Then he and Sam winked out and left through the wall. Spears, who'd been grading essays, looked back at the papers momentarily, then shoved them aside with a shake of his head. Who would ever have thought that awkward Danny Fenton was the town's hero? And how the _heck_ had Lancer found out before GEIST got off the ground?

---

Danny pulled Sam through the crowds to the office to pick up Tucker, who'd successfully convinced Vice-Principal Falooka that cancelling class for the rest of the day was a good idea. Then the three teens headed for the cafeteria, where Valerie had revealed her identity as the Red Hunter to get volunteers for the rest of the day (they'd figured with Danny being outed and with Lancer as a distinct possibility, they might as well go all the way). Danny, hovering about eight feet up to avoid the fangirls, quickly organized search teams, telling them to stop by FentonWorks for Fenton Phones first, and sent everyone out in groups, Sam and Tucker leading. Val struck out on her own.

Danny then flew through the school to find Paulina, who'd promised to get her parents to use their connections to help. He found her just as she was slamming her cell phone shut. She sensed his presence and turned to face him, who looked at her curiously.

"Mama's promised to get the PTA to help out."

"And that makes you angry?"

"_Non_. I told her about you, like you said, and she got all excited that the same might go for Spirit. I told her _nada_, he's full ghost, but I don't think she believed me." Danny paled at the news.

"Don't worry," the young Latina continued, "it's not like she's going to run into him. He's safe."

"No, he's not," Danny said worriedly, "I've gotta get to him. We've got to plan anyway. And you're coming with me." He swooped down, grabbed Paulina's waist, then shot out through the ceiling heading for downtown. Paulina shrieked at the sudden movement, then fell into silence. It was obvious Danny didn't want to talk at the moment. A few minutes later Danny plunged into an office building and landed in the corner of a room, letting go of his burden as he did so. Paulina gasped at what she saw.

Will Spirit had paused in a heated discussion with a thin black-haired ghost and both figures had turned to look at Danny in surprise. A blue-skinned woman who Paulina vaguely recognized as Lancer's girlfriend from her visits to the GEIST office was sitting at the computer typing. At the sudden lack of noise, she too turned to look at Danny.

"What's going on?" Danny demanded.

"Aster found the ghost," the unfamiliar ghost explained. "He sent me to tell Will. We've been trying to sort things out ever since."

"Like the press conference," Lancer's girlfriend added. "It might take a while to find Cyclone and we're going to have to explain Lancer's disappearance somehow. Besides, with your secret out, Danny, it's only a matter of time before people start speculating about Spirit too."

"Would someone mind explaining what Paulina's doing here?" Spirit asked pointedly.

"Damage control," Danny said. "Her mom's already speculating. I figured Paulina might be able to hold her off if she comes in here."

"Wait a minute," Paulina said in confusion, "this is the GEIST office?"

"Yes," came a chorus of four voices.

"Then what is Spirit doi- Ooh." Her eyes widened as she looked at Will Spirit again. "You're Mr. Lancer, aren't you?" Spirit nodded, looking a little ashamed. "Then my mama is out th-... Oh. Oh _no_..."

"Exactly," Danny said to her before looking dead at Lancer. "We don't have time to have a press conference. We've got to get that ghost."

"That's what I said," the Ghost Writer said. "We _can_ hold the press conference later, Will, and in fact we probably should."

"But if Casper High knows about Danny..."

"Then they know about me. School's out for the day and I've organized search groups. What does the ghost look like, Writer?"

"Grey skin, red eyes, blue cloak," a female voice said from the corner opposite Danny. Everyone jumped, and a white-haired girl in a black and white costume appeared, blushing. "Sorry."

Danny rushed over to the girl.

"You ran into him, Dani?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Nope! I ran into Aster above the library and he pointed him out to me."

"So where's Aster now?" Lancer asked.

"Leading Cyclone over to the park. He sent me to tell you so the three of us could get over there."

"Right," Danny said, making sure his Thermos was on its shoulder strap. "We'd better head out then. Aster won't be able to keep his attention for long."

"Okay," Lancer agreed. "Cathy, finish that press release. We'll still have to have that conference. Paulina, ... we'll fly you out of here and you can join a search team."

"And ruin my flawless skin?!" the girl shrieked. "Are you crazy?"

"Well, then we'll take you somewhere else. You can't stay _here_." Paulina seemed all right with that, so Lancer turned to the group again. "Everyone ready? Okay, le-... yes, Cathy, we'll be safe, I promise. Now let's see if we can't finish this by dinner!" They took off, taking Paulina with them. A few minutes later, they set her down at the mall and continued on their way, praying that three halfas, two who could duplicate, would be enough to take down a ghost with aspirations of halfahood.


	7. Combat

Thanks to Sasia93, YumeTakato, Shadow Crystal Mage, Quacked Lurker, and Snickerer. 

_Look, everybody, it's the climax! And Vlad!_

**Chapter 7: Combat**

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

The three halfas arrived at the town park to find Cyclone firing massive red blasts at Aster with a vicious look on his face. Despite the amulet that allowed him to absorb the blasts without incurring physical harm, the hippie was beginning to look worn out and tired. Danny quickly primed a massive ball of ectoenergy and fired it at Cyclone's back, causing the ghost to do a somersault in midair and drop altitude. He rallied quickly and shot back up to the halfas' level, a wicked sneer plastered on his face and two balls of ectoplasm in his hands.

"Well, well, the halfas... Can't say I didn't expect you." His sneer widened. "I'm surprised it took you this long to figure things out, though. Oh well, your loss, my gain!" He released the ectoplasm in his hands in an arc, hitting all three halfas, who yelped in pain. Cyclone let out a deep chuckle that ended in a startled gasp as Aster, slightly recovered, rammed into his back.

"Leave 'em alone, pal! No one messes with my friends!"

Cyclone whipped around and caught Aster by the throat.

"_You told them_," he spat. "So much for your _promise_. And that means I can fulfill our part of the bargain even _more_." He sent an ectoblast-enhanced fist into Aster's stomach.

"He didn't tell us!" Dani shouted as her friend doubled over in pain. "We heard about you from someone else." Cyclone's grip tightened on Aster's neck as he turned around slowly.

"What?!" he spat. "Who?"

"Not telling, Psycho!" Danny and his duplicate flew at Cyclone simultaneously, as Lancer maneuvered himself to where he expected Cyclone to move to and Dani rushed to fly Aster to safety. Cyclone slammed into Lancer, who caught him up in a bear hug and started squeezing, only to find himself with empty arms and a cackling ghost twenty feet above him. He primed himself for a burst of speed upwards but was knocked to the ground by another massive scarlet blast from the grey ghost.

As he lay dazed in the snow, he watched Dani reenter the fight roaring in anger. Cyclone grabbed her outstretched arm and used her momentum to knock both her and Danny out of the air as well. He descended slowly after them and the three halfas grimly picked themselves up and readied their stances for a ground battle. Aster had mercifully disappeared.

The blue robed ghost alighted and grinned his pointed yellow grin while his clothing blew around him enhancing the air of menace.

"Is that the best you three can do?" he leered. "Come on and fight me like the ghosts you are!"

"We're not ghosts!" the two teens yelled as all three halfas fired blasts at Cyclone, who merely raised an ectodome and laughed. He condensed the dome into a ball of energy and threw it at Dani and Danny, sending them skidding into a cluster of trees. Lancer used the momentary distraction to send half a snowdrift telekinetically hurtling at Cyclone, effectively pinning the ghost to the ground for just long enough for Lancer to get up and continue the job.

"What is Plasmius planning?" he asked the ghost angrily. "I know he's up to something. Tell me."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cyclone answered. "I've never even heard of a Plasmius." Lancer raised Cyclone's body slightly and slammed him into the snow and ice again, eyes blazing blue.

"Tell me," he growled, "or I'll blast you into the ground." Cyclone writhed in his grasp.

"I'm telling the truth! Get off me!" He lashed out with his legs and caught Lancer in the stomach. Cyclone rose up only to find that a green cord had appeared out of nowhere and bound his arms to his sides. There was a sharp tug on the rope and the ghost found himself back on the ground, a muscled teen standing over him with a foot on his chest.

"You've never heard of Plasmius?" Danny asked, putting more weight on his foot. "Blue skin, red eyes, spiky hair, white cape? Fruitloop?"

"Never." Danny pressed harder on Cyclone's chest, causing him to wince in pain.

"You're not in league with him?" Cyclone shook his head. Lancer spoke from several feet behind Danny, where he'd had a chance to think things through a little further.

"His plan's too self-serving for Vlad to want a part in it. He's working alone." Danny turned to face the former teacher, the captive ghost momentarily forgotten.

"Then what's Vlad getting at?"

"I don't know," Lancer answered, "but he's probably using this ghost's scheme anyway." He moved to uncap his Thermos just as Danny felt a vice grip on his ankle and slammed into the ground face first. Cyclone flew up into the air again, Lancer following, vaguely noticing that Dani had disappeared from the scene of the fight. He and Danny quickly found themselves locked in an exchange of ectoblasts and witty banter again and Lancer didn't even have time to think about where his pseudo-adoptive daughter had gone.

Dani reappeared five minutes later with a search group, this one grudgingly led by a thin, middle-aged man with blue skin. Danny noticed their appearance and shouted over to Lancer.

"Keep him busy, Will!" Lancer nodded and summoned two duplicates without losing the momentum of his blasts. Danny gave him a nod in return and flew down to the group of humans. He managed to communicate the urgency of the situation to them, namely that they really shouldn't be there at the moment, and sent them back out to find the other search groups and tell them the ghost had been found. Then he and Dani rejoined the aerial battle, worried slightly that Cyclone wasn't weakening as quickly as most ghosts they fought.

The last human to leave the park was Mr. Spears, who'd decided that the present moment wouldn't be a good time to ask Danny why he suddenly had a female twin. He'd made it to the gates when he noticed two unfamiliar blurs flash by overhead and with only a brief thought of _Ghosts!_ he turned and ran back towards the clearing. He needed to warn Danny.

When he came back into view of the battle, he saw the two new ghosts hovering anxiously at the tree line and bickering, the fight with Cyclone continuing on the opposite side of the clearing. Spears didn't think the newcomers looked very harmful, but he'd soon learned upon arriving in Amity Park that with ghosts looks could be quite deceiving.

"Danny!" he shouted. "Spirit!" Both ghosts, their duplicates, and Danny's "twin," snapped their heads around at the sudden noise and Cyclone threw out another arc of ectoplasm, sending them hurtling backwards and eliminating the copies.

"Robert!" Spirit shouted. "Get out of here _now_! What do you think you're doing?!" Spears blinked.

"Robert?" he muttered, confused as to how Spirit knew his name. "_Robert_?"

"I'd do what Will says," said a low, deep voice behind the teacher. Spears jumped and vanished, but a pale greyish-purple hand still grabbed him and spun him around. The teacher found himself looking straight into a pair of bright green eyes hidden behind an old-fashioned pair of spectacles and a fringe of black hair.

"You're just going to get in the way here. _Go_!" Spears gulped and ran. As he rounded the first corner of the path, he thought he heard another voice whine, "I ain't gonna follow him, man. You do it."

---

When Dani had flown a pained Aster away from the scene of the battle, she'd sent him to the GEIST office to fetch the Ghost Writer, operating on the somewhat misguided principle that the more people there were fighting, the quicker the fight would be over. Aster had tried to point out, between gasps, that maybe that wasn't such a good idea, but Dani threatened to pull out of the New Year's pranks they'd planned if he didn't obey her.

He'd arrived at GEIST to find the Ghost Writer attempting to separate Cathy and another woman, who he suspected was Lancer's secretary. They appeared to be in a heated argument about who knew Will Spirit best. Aster had come in through the wall, thought for a moment, then did the only logical thing that came to mind and phased the secretary into the next office. He had returned to GEIST a moment later to find Writer restraining Cathy and trying to calm her down. Aster had pitched in, explaining the situation once she was acting rationally again. Then he had grabbed the Ghost Writer and left the building before either of them could really protest.

He and Writer argued all the way to the park about whether they should take part in the battle at all, since neither had any useful powers to speak of, or whether they should stay on the sidelines and help out only if and when they were needed. The argument continued once they arrived at the battle scene, since they noted that none of the halfas seemed to be tiring very quickly. Then Spears had shouted and they'd silently agreed that _he_, at least, shouldn't be there. Writer had sent him on his way then rejoined Aster in the air, forming an unspoken bond of anxiety with him.

---

Meanwhile, Cyclone was finally starting to wear down. Unfortunately, the five figures fighting him were beginning to as well, and the two ghosts hovering nervously on the side struck up their argument again. Danny was beginning to suspect that they would have to resort to their ultimate backup plan. Finally, after a particularly nasty round of ectoblasts from Cyclone, he gave in.

"You know, Cyclone, it's been a real _scream_ fighting with you, but I think it's time we finished this." He winked at Dani, floating in the air beside him. Then they opened their mouths simultaneously and let out their Ghostly Wails. As the combined blasts hit the blue-clad ghost his form began to blur and minute particles began to slough off him. Cyclone began screaming soon afterwards, more in rage than pain.

Finally, the two teen halfas were too spent to continue Wailing and Lancer, who'd fallen back out of range, returned and caught the ghost in the beam of the Fenton Thermos. Cyclone gave a final shriek of anger as he was pulled into the container. A cloud of the shimmering particles was left behind. The halfas and the two ghostly onlookers watched as it seemed to condense and pulsate slightly. Then all of a sudden there was a quiet pop and everyone was knocked out of the air.

---

Vlad had been watching the progressive contamination of Amity Park with interest, even though it told him little that he didn't already know about the natures of ghosts and of the people of Amity Park. He knew that his personal involvement there wouldn't help matters, since he would also be susceptible to the ectoplasm and didn't entirely trust himself not to regress to his obsessions with Maddie and Jack. He'd promised himself, though, that if things went wrong and no one had realized that Cyclone was behind the disturbances by today, the last day before the halfas crossed dangerous limits into ghosthood, he would go to Amity Park and finish the fight himself. Team Phantom seemed to be right on track without him, though, so Vlad wasn't worried.

It did amuse him to see that two incredibly weak ghosts seemed to have joined the crew, including the hippie ghost Vlad had spoken to near the middle of his campaign and who had seen straight through Vlad's several attempts to win him over, while pretending to be completely clueless about politics. Vlad had left the ghost's lair after realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with him.

The television Vlad had left tuned to Amity Park's local station switched suddenly from monotonous soap opera to news broadcast. An overly chipper female voice began speaking.

"We interrupt this program to bring you two breaking stories. Casper High School was let out early today and its students sent out on ghost patrol, following the exposure of town heroes Danny Phantom and the Red Hunter as juniors Danny Fenton and Valerie Gray. This has sparked speculation that Will Spirit may also be half-ghost, as is Fenton, and we hope he will come forward soon and identify himself if this is the case. William Lancer, of the city's GEIST Program, is not responding to our calls." The woman paused and took a breath of air before continuing with the second half of the announcement. "We have also received reports from people passing the main park that Phantom and Spirit, along with several unidentified figures, are currently engaged with a malevolent ghost who is likely the cause of the current ectoplasmic contamination. Stay tuned for more updates."

The soap opera came back on and Vlad turned away from the set again. He grinned and rubbed his hands together.

_Perfect,_ he thought_, just how it needs to be._

---

Aster dragged himself out of the snow bank, feeling oddly heavy and sore. He pulled himself into a rough sitting position once he was back on the path and tried to get his bearings. A tall man was standing a little ways off, deep in thought and brushing clumps of snow off his long purple coat. He noticed Aster looking at him and smiled.

"You wouldn't happen to see my glasses, would you? I'm blind as a bat without them."

Aster shook his head, confused. The man looked vaguely familiar, almost like...

"Ghost Writer?" the hippie murmured.

"Not anymore, apparently," the man said frankly. "You'd be the hippie ghost?"

"Aster," the person in question corrected brusquely. He looked down at himself then, because the way the Ghost Writer had phrased the question had unsettled him.

His arms were a creamy pink now, the same colour as human skin. He wasn't translucent anymore either, and he felt warm inside. Aster pressed his hand against his arm. That was very definitely flesh he was feeling. A disconcerted thought flashed through his mind: _Am I human again?_

His clothing, like his companion's, had remained as it had been and Aster felt for the familiar feel of his necklace. It was gone. Aster panicked, then stopped when he realized that he was feeling panic without actually absorbing it. He didn't _need_ the amulet. He leapt to his feet and whooped. The Ghost Writer jumped, and a snow bank across from them exploded as a slim black-haired figure jumped out.

"Where's the ghost?!" Danny asked, automatically assuming a fighting stance. Aster grinned.

"Easy, Danny. It's just us."

"Who are y-Aster? Ghost Writer?" Danny relaxed in confusion. The former ghosts nodded. "But what? How?"

"_That_ is probably a question for your parents, Danny," the Ghost Writer said. "However, I'd assume that when we defeated Cyclone part of his 'humanity', for lack of a better word, transferred to us. You might notice you're back in your human form as well."

Danny looked down, noticed his khakis and t-shirt, and grinned. The scholar continued.

"I'd be somewhat surprised though if Aster and I turned out to be fully human. There wasn't enough humanity in Cyclone to do that to any of us, assuming we all got an equal amount."

Danny nodded, then decided to test himself. He summoned his transformation rings and went ghost, then changed back.

_Well, I'm still a halfa_, he thought._ Good._

Lancer's hand emerged from the snow then and began flailing. The Ghost Writer grabbed it and pulled him out. Lancer blinked when he realized who he was looking at.

"Hello Will," Writer said cheerfully. "Seems we've all had a little change for the better." The tall man waved his arm to indicate, Danny, Aster, and Dani, who'd pulled herself out of the snowdrifts as well. He shivered then, from the cold. "Perhaps we should go somewhere else? I doubt any of us are in any condition to be standing out here much longer."

That was true. Both he and Aster were still barefoot, Aster was dressed for summer, and the three definite halfas had various injuries from the battle.

"FentonWorks is closest," Danny suggested, and the five of them set off, after finding the Ghost Writer's spectacles. The streets seemed to be deserted, with the search teams off elsewhere and the regular citizens trying to track Danny and Spirit down. The quintet arrived at FentonWorks a short, weary walk later, and were let inside by a worried and surprised Maddie Fenton.

_And now my daily brain-bending is over… Two more chapters to go, folks, and an epilogue._


	8. Responsibility

Wow! I don't know if it was my pleas or the fact that last chapter was the climax and I pulled a massive "Wha?" moment at the end, but I got eight reviews last chapter! Thanks ever so much to Shadow Crystal Mage, Quacked Lurker, Snickerer, Pterodactyl, lynn138, HiddenAuthor, The Sorceress of Light, Sasia93, and YumeTakato for givin' 'em to me! Let's see if we can beat the record, hmm?

**Chapter 8: Responsibility**

_I don't own Danny Phantom or Ghost World._

Danny woke up the next morning on one of the couches in his living room. Scattered across the rest of the furniture, as well as the floor, were the rest of Team Phantom and its affiliates. Not quite, actually, now that he looked around a little more. His parents were missing and Danny could hear sounds coming from the lab. Had they even gone to sleep?

Lancer and Cathy had ended up on the couch next to Danny and, to the boy's pleased surprise, Sam. Dani was sprawled out on the floor between the two couches, and Danny guessed that the bare foot above the girl's head belonged to Aster. Tucker had nodded off in an armchair, still clutching his newest PDA, Val's head resting against his shin. The Ghost Writer had fallen asleep beside the bookcase. Jazz was in the middle of the floor on top of a thousand-page psych text, normal-looking again after being forced through the Ghost Catcher last night.

Danny shifted slightly and stared up at the ceiling, trying not to wake Sam. He started running through everything they'd discussed the day before after barricading themselves into FentonWorks to stave off the fans and reporters amassing outside.

Danny's parents had been stunned at the appearance of Aster and Ghost Writer in human form, but had rallied quite well and barely made a nuisance of themselves at all, though Maddie did demand bloodtests at some point. Valerie had arrived about five minutes later, out of breath and with Sam and Tucker on her sled. She had told everyone that the town was excitedly approaching FentonWorks from all sides. Danny had thrown up the Ghost Shield the moment Cathy arrived from the GEIST office, a draft of the press release in her hand, and everyone had settled down to work in the living room.

By the time they broke for dinner several hours later, they'd figured out exactly what Cyclone had been doing and gotten an itinerary for the press conference finished. After an eventful meal of glowing vegetarian pizza and a quick lesson for Writer on how to eat it, they'd gone back to the living room to work out the details of the conference and Lancer had set the time for ten o'clock the next morning. Danny shot a panicked glance at the clock next to the bookcase when he remembered that, then relaxed when he noticed it was only seven-thirty. There was still plenty of time.

He shifted again and moved Sam off him, then went intangible and sank through the couch and floor into the basement lab. He spoke briefly with his parents, who were doing some final tests and experiments to make sure they had their facts straight, then walked back upstairs into the kitchen. He was dexterously balancing a bowl, spoon, and box of cereal in one hand while trying to get the milk out of the fridge when the phone rang. Danny dumped his food on the table and answered it.

"Hello, FentonWorks," he mumbled.

"Ah, Danny! Just the person I wanted to talk with!" came a rich velvet voice. Danny lost his appetite.

"Vlad."

"Now, Danny, is that any sort of tone to use with me?" Vlad asked, sounding hurt. "I thought we were friends."

"Not enemies," Danny corrected.

"Semantics." Vlad brushed the topic aside. "First of all, I'd like to congratulate you and Will on defeating that ghost yesterday. I heard about it on the news..."

"What are you up to, Vlad?"

"Nothing, Danny, I assure you." Vlad went on, "I must say though, revealing your secret like that... I thought we had a deal, Danny."

"As far as the world is concerned, Plasmius is full ghost and nobody has to know otherwise. Your secret's out within the Team, but it won't go further. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that," Vlad said darkly. "Now, there's something I'd like to offer you..."

"No."

"You haven't even listened to what I was going to say."

"I don't have to," Danny said angrily. "You're starting an empire."

Vlad spluttered. "What?! An empire? Who told you that?"

"I have my sources."

"I'm touched, Danny. You're becoming more like me every day." Danny could hear the smile in Vlad's voice.

"Can it, Vlad," he spat. 'I thought we'd agreed no more scheming."

"No more _evil_ schemes, actually," Vlad corrected. "I am, in fact, scheming to your benefit."

"Since when have your schemes ever been to anyone's benefit?"

"Since now, Danny." The squeak of a chair being pushed back came over the line. "I have a list of, oh, five hundred ghosts here who all want to come live in the human world. I thought, since everyone in Amity Park knows what it's like to be a ghost, and since most still have ghost powers and whatnot, that maybe we could start a little immigration, hmm?"

"Immigration?"

"Yes. You know, a weak or friendly ghost wants out of the Ghost Zone, wants a real world haunt, and we let hthemim, if they promise to, say, not attack people or get too violent about their obsessions. In return, they get a haunt, they get something approximating life again, and they get access to whatever their obsession is. As I said, I've got five hundred ghosts who've agreed to do this, some who've practically _volunteered_, and none of them are above a moderate power level. I think Skulker's the strongest. I'd act as middleman, and possibly you and Will too."

"Uh huh. And what do you get out of this?" Danny asked warily.

"Same thing you do. Full integration back into society, friends, respect, sense of purpose..." Vlad trailed off but Danny didn't answer right away. Vlad sighed. "You see, I've done a lot of thinking since my last visit, Danny. I've had a lot of time on my hands. You remember your first year as a halfa, Danny? How you kept having to lie and make excuses? How you never knew what was going to be around the next corner and had to watch your every move so you didn't betray yourself to everyone? Remember that?" He was greeted with silence again.

"Now just think, Danny. That was _one year_ and just look how stressed you were before Spirit showed up... I've had twenty-two now, and no Spirit. I'm tired of having to be paranoid and shut myself off from society. You know as well as I do that it was _necessary_, but it wasn't pleasant by any means. Well, you've gotten rid of all that now, and I'll be darned if you get one _more_ thing I don't have."

"So I don't have a choice in this," Danny said flatly.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't say that," Vlad hedged. "You can choose to do it this way, or you can choose to wait and see what I come up with next. Now, what did you have planned before we had our little chat?"

"Will's organized a press conference in a few hours, where we're going to explain about halfas and he's going to come forward too. And my parents are planning to talk a little about what was going on with the ectoplasm and everything."

"They've come up with a theory already?" Vlad sounded excited. Did that mean he didn't have one himself? What had he been doing then?

_Oh, right_, thought Danny, _he's been manipulating ghosts and planning more blackmail..._

"Yeah, think so. I'll get them to phone you later. They're putting the finishing touches on it now."

"Ah, well, wouldn't want to disturb them," Vlad said smoothly. "And I'll let you get back to your breakfast. I assume that was what you were doing? I hope to hear back from you soon, Danny, with an answer."

"Sure." Danny wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the idea. "Goo-"

"Oh, and one more thing. All these ghosts, they're expecting to move within the next couple weeks. Wouldn't want to disappoint them. Ta-ta!" Vlad hung up decisively.

Sam walked in at that moment and saw her boyfriend standing stock-still with the phone receiver in his hand. His eyes were blazing a brilliant green. The goth stopped in the doorway.

"Danny, the phone hasn't done anything to you..." Danny came out of his thoughts with a jerk.

"No," he answered her, "but Vlad has." He slammed the receiver back into the cradle and went back to the fridge to get the milk.

"He's gone and promised a bunch of ghosts they can move into Amity Park. Thinks it'll make us seem more 'normal' or something."

"You mean the halfas?"

"Yeah." Danny sloshed milk over his bowl of Ghosty-Os and started eating.

"What did you tell him?" Sam asked, concerned.

"That we'd think about it. I'll have a talk with everyone once they're up, I guess."

Sam nodded and grabbed the oatmeal out of a cupboard. By the time everyone else had woken up, she'd prepared a large pot and insisted on giving everyone a large bowl of the stuff, which was "one hundred percent organic" and contained "absolutely no animal products." She even got Jack and Maddie away from the lab, and once everyone had eaten at least a little, Danny broke the news about Vlad to the group.

After quite a bit of yelling, arguing, and, somewhat surprisingly, hurt feelings, they decided that Vlad probably _was_ being honest about his reasons and that it certainly wouldn't hurt to go along with the scheme, at least until something went wrong. After they'd cleaned up (Cathy had insisted), everyone went their separate ways to get ready for the press conference.

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz went up to Danny's room to finish coaching Danny, Lancer and his "family" went home to change, Val went home to finally face up to her father about going public, and Jack and Maddie went back downstairs to collect their notes. Aster and Writer headed up to the attic to try to find Christmas decorations, because Aster had loudly pointed out the night before that it was December 22nd and where was everybody's Christmas spirit? Bangs and scrapings soon drifted down through the house, accompanied by the sound of what was either sniping conversation or an argument, but as long as neither former ghost attacked the other, they were ignored.

---

Lancer pulled up to Casper High half an hour later, dressed in fresh clothes and trying not to look nervous. Principal Ishiyama had graciously agreed the evening before to allow the press conference in the school auditorium, since it was the only enclosed public space in Amity Park large enough for the purpose, and she was standing at the front door now waiting for him. He walked up the steps, she let him in, and they started walking down the hallway together.

"The reporters started showing up an hour ago," Ishiyama told Lancer. "They've almost got everything set up now and people have been lining up since seven. I guess everyone wants to see whether the rumours are true."

"You don't think they are?" the former teacher asked her. Ishiyama sighed.

"I don't know, William. I guess it explains Fenton's behaviour, but honestly, _half-ghost_? It's hard to believe that's possible." Ishiyama chuckled slightly, then became stern and serious as she looked up at Lancer. "You'd better have evidence of all this, William. I don't want to think you've been wasting everyone's time."

"Trust me, Beth. I've got all the proof I need."

The Asian woman gave him a slightly disbelieving look as she let him into the backstage area. The auditorium itself was echoing with the chatter of journalists, and all in all it felt much like a GEIST lecture or a school assembly. Lancer thanked Ishiyama for her help and she headed back to the front to keep an eye out for the Fentons. Lancer walked over to the AV equipment to start setting it up. He was just about to unlatch the microphone case when a voice spoke several feet away. Lancer jumped.

"It's set up already. Beth asked me. I'm the tech guy this year." Lancer turned around to see Robert Spears, his successor as Casper High English teacher, appearing out of the shadows, knotting a tie with aliens on it.

"Besides," Spears continued, "I've got a question for Spirit that I wanted to ask privately, and one for you too."

"Oh?" Lancer sounded interested.

"Yeah. Danny told me yesterday that you've known his secret for a while. How did you find out?"

"I, I," Lancer faltered, "I witnessed his transformation last September, approached him about it a day or so later." He shrugged.

"Well," Spears continued, "I admire you for keeping it as secret as you did. It must have been a strain once you started this GEIST thing."

"It wasn't that bad. Danny's been pretty helpful with things." Lancer pulled the curtain back slightly and peeked out into the seating area. The first two rows were filled with reporters, and there were at least three different news stations present. None of the national ones though. That was lucky.

Lancer caught the attention of a slight Asian-American woman in a green suit and ponytail and asked her how things were going with the set up. She replied that everything was pretty much ready, so Lancer sent Spears to let the public in through the outer door.

He started pacing nervously backstage. He knew going public as Spirit was the right thing to do, but he wasn't sure if he was ready for it. He didn't know if he'd ever be. He turned from one of his laps to see Cathy standing in the wings.

"Nervous, huh?" she asked as she walked over to him. "It'll be okay. We've got your back on this."

"I know," Lancer sighed. "I know..."

"Good. Dani's on her way. She should be here so-"

"I'm here!" Dani, in ghost mode, was floating down from the roof, waving. She touched ground at the edge of the stage and changed back to human. "And the GAV's outside too."

_So we've just got to wait for Valerie then,_ Lancer thought. _Shouldn't be too long then. Speak of the devil..._

Val and her father Damon had slipped backstage. Damon appeared calm but there was a worried look to his expression. He walked up to Lancer as Val went over to stand beside Dani and started playing absently with a throwing ring.

"Valerie explained everything to me this morning," Damon told Lancer. "The whole Team Phantom thing, your role in all this, everything. I knew she was working with Phantom, but I didn't know exactly how extensive this whole thing was. You're looking after her, right?"

"Of course we are," Lancer replied reassuringly. "We've set up rules about what to do in emergencies, Maddie's trained in first aid, and your daughter isn't nearly as rough with other ghosts as she was with Danny. She's fine."

He placed a hand on the man's shoulder briefly. "Now, would you like to stay backstage for this, or be in the audience?"

"Backstage, if it isn't too much of an inconvenience..."

"Of course not." Damon went over to stand by Valerie just as the inner door opened again and the Fentons came in, along with the Ghost Writer, Sam, and Tucker. Danny had put on a dress shirt and slacks and was looking distinctly uncomfortable. He kept playing with his collar.

As the newly arrived adults and Cathy went to set up Jack and Maddie's part of today's presentation, Lancer walked over to the teens to see if they were all as nervous as he felt and Danny looked. They were, but it was more the nervousness that came before a showdown than the more fearful sort the halfas were exhibiting. They also warned him that Aster had put himself in charge of getting Christmas decorations, which explained his absence.

Finally, everything was set up, the entire town had crammed into the auditorium, and it was time to begin. Spears flicked the switch to raise the curtain and Lancer walked out to the single microphone in the middle of the stage. The crowd settled down and the conference began.

"Good morning. As you all know by now, my name is William Lancer and I am in charge of the Education Division of the Ghost Education and Information Support Team. Welcome.

"There are two purposes to today's press conference. First of all, Amity Park's ghost fighting heroes are going to come forward and set the record straight as to their secret identities. Then Jack and Maddie Fenton have some information to share with us regarding the supernatural events of the past few weeks, and what we can expect in the future. We ask you to hold your questions until the end of each segment, and not to storm the stage. Our heroes are people just like you and me, and wish to be treated as such.

"Our first speaker this morning is Danny Phantom. Danny?" Lancer turned to face the wings and walked backwards towards the opposite side of the stage, clapping, and Danny, in ghost mode, took his place in front of the mic. He looked boldly out into the audience, in contrast to the nervousness he'd been displaying backstage.

"Hi. You've probably heard the rumour by now that I'm not a full ghost like you thought I was. A bunch of you got to see that firsthand, and I'd like to thank you all for behaving as well as you did. So, anyway, what you heard is true, I'm only half-ghost. The other part of me is Danny Fenton, just as the news said." Danny reverted back to human, projecting an air of confidence. The crowd gasped as the rings travelled along his body, then began whispering to each other. Danny waited till they quieted before continuing.

"I've been a half-ghost, a 'halfa,' for two years. I got my powers in an accident with my parents' Ghost Portal, and I've been fighting ghosts here ever since. For the first year I was mostly alone, with just my friends Sam Manson and Tucker Foley as backup. I'm not going to lie, it was rough going. I didn't get enough sleep, my grades in school dropped because I had to fight during school time, I was constantly hurt (that hasn't changed, by the way), the entire town, including my parents, hated me... You get the idea. I'm really grateful for the change in heart you all have shown over the past year. It's made things a lot easier for me, and the rest of Team Phantom, even if it means having fangirls." The audience laughed, and the Phantom Fanclub cheered from the area they'd claimed as their own.

"I know you're eager to see Spirit and the Red Hunter out here, but first I'd like to introduce another halfa who hasn't played a big role in this town until yesterday, when she helped Spirit and I defeat Cyclone, the ghost who's been bothering us lately. She doesn't like talking about herself though, so I'm going to introduce her myself." Danny looked over to the wings and gestured for Dani to come out on stage. She did, as a human. Cathy had forced a dress onto her for the occasion, and the girl was looking distinctly uncomfortable in it.

"This is Dani Phantom, with an 'i'. As a human, she doesn't have a last name. See, my archenemy decided a year and a half ago to make a clone of me. Don't ask how he managed it, I have no idea. And this guy's been defeated for good now, so you don't have to worry about him. Anyway, Dani was the result, but she turned on him and helped me beat him. And here she is." Danny turned to the younger girl and said something the mic didn't pick up. She stuck her tongue out at him and went ghost. Then she flew up above Danny and did a saucy pirouette to show off her outfit. Then she landed beside Danny again, turned human, and waited.

Danny continued speaking. "Once again, I'd like to emphasize that we really do want to be treated like everyone else, no fans, no stalkers, no autographs, nothing. We're just kids with ghost powers, like everyone else in Amity Park at the moment. Now, I believe the Red Hunter would like to say a few words..."

Val walked on stage in her battlesuit and took her place at the microphone, adjusting it for her height. Danny and Dani retreated to the back of the stage, and Sam and Tucker joined them quietly.

"I'm not gonna talk as much as Danny did," Val said. "I don't need to, really. My name is Valerie Gray, and I'm a student at Casper High too." She mentally activated the suit's retraction mechanism, revealing her human appearance. Her currently green skin and hair contrasted sharply with the yellow and orange colour scheme of her clothing.

"I got my suit and my weapons from someone who wants to stay anonymous. I used to fight Danny every chance I could because I thought he'd ruined my life, but I've been cleared up about a few things and fight with the Team now. And I'd just like to say you can go ahead and stalk me if you like being attacked by someone with a black belt and ectoweapons." Val shot a glance over to the side of the stage and seemed to hold a conversation based entirely on expressions with someone offstage. Finally she gave up and turned back to the audience.

"I think Mr. Lancer wants to introduce Spirit himself," she announced, and moved back to join the rest of the kids as someone nudged a nervous Lancer back onto the stage. He walked to the middle shakily, and froze once he got there. The audience waited patiently for about thirty seconds, and then a group of middle-aged women dressed in blue and white started chanting, "Spirit! Spirit!" Lancer fidgeted, glanced off-stage again to see Cathy and Writer motioning for him to get on with it, looked back at the audience, and gave up all hope of a smooth entry into his explanation. He stepped back from the microphone, panicking slightly and looking at the floor, and muttered, "_Ghost World_." His fanwomen stopped chanting the moment his rings appeared and the room fell silent.

When his transformation was complete, Lancer felt that the worst was over and got up the nerve to talk to everyone again. In the wings, Cathy was giggling at his expression of discomfort, the Ghost Writer was looking sympathetic, and both Spears and Ishiyama, who was overseeing things, were staring at him in complete and utter shock.

"I have been a halfa for the past year," Lancer announced. "Like Danny, I had an accident with the Fenton Portal, and like him, I didn't know what was happening at first. Danny helped me a lot when I was starting out and I managed to bring some sense back into my life. I've been helping him fight ghosts in Amity Park ever since.

"I retired from teaching because I didn't have enough time to do both jobs and people were getting suspicious of me. I took the position at GEIST so I could use my knowledge of ghosts and teaching for the 'public good' if you will, and I think I've been successful in my goals." He changed back to human. Danny and Valerie walked up to join him, and Sam, Tucker, and Dani moved offstage again.

"Now," Lancer asked, "are there any questions?"

There were plenty, of course, and it took the three heroes ten minutes over their planned half an hour to answer them all. A lot of questions were about fights they'd been in, especially the one with Cyclone yesterday, but there were also questions about their daily lives, romance (Danny and Lancer both said, "Not looking," and brought their girlfriends onto stage as evidence), and what would happen from now on. Finally the questions were over and Lancer was able to introduce the Fentons and start the second half of the press conference.

As the two scientists began explaining the basics of ectoplasm to the audience, Lancer collapsed in a chair backstage. Cathy sat down in his lap and gave him a quick kiss.

"You did wonderfully, Will. I'm proud of you."

"I _froze_, Cath," Lancer protested.

"Thought you might," the woman answered, "You've always been the shy one." Lancer snorted and then noticed Beth Ishiyama approaching. He nudged Cathy off him and straightened up in his chair.

"Beth."

"You weren't lying when you said you had proof, were you?" Lancer reddened. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have worked things so you could keep teaching here."

"Would you have believed me? Or trusted me?" Lancer asked her. "And I didn't want this public then. I'm still not sure if I do..." Cathy, now sitting beside him, punched his arm lightly in teasing protest.

"...but it needs to be this way," Lancer finished. "I'm happier at GEIST anyway, Beth."

"I still wish you'd told me. I wouldn't have worried so much." Ishiyama moved away a little so she could listen to the Fentons' part of the presentation. Lancer remained seated, hoping for peace and quiet, but he was soon accosted by Spears, followed by the Mansons and members of the staff. With Cathy's help, he managed to fend most of them off while the lecture on ectoplasm continued in the background.


	9. Explanation

_Thanks to HiddenAuthor, Linkmaste, Quacked Lurker, Snickerer, YumeTakato, Shadow Crystal Mage, and Ember518 for their continued interest. _

_This chapter is dedicated to Snickerer, who suffered through my science-blondeness for at least a month while we were trying to get a working theory for everything. I owe her big, and if you like the theory, tell her. She deserves praise too, probably even more than I do in this case._

**Chapter 9: Explanation**

_I do not own Danny Phantom._

As Jack was getting their things set up on stage, Maddie stepped up to the microphone and the audience quieted immediately in anticipation.

"Hello." The woman's voice rang out in the silent hall. "As Will said, Jack and I are going to explain why everyone has been getting ghost powers and what is going to happen now that Cyclone has been defeated. Jack and I have developed a solid theory of how ectoplasm interacts with humans over the past few weeks, and we are also going to be sharing that with you today." Behind her, Maddie's paunchy husband dragged a large easel onto the stage and left again.

"Now," Maddie went on, "Jack and I have discovered that there are two kinds of ectoplasm, each with different properties. The first kind, possessing ectoplasm, is by far the most common, since it forms the bodies of full ghosts as well as the structural elements of the Ghost Zone. This is the kind of ectoplasm that normally creates possessed objects and which ghosts use when overshadowing people. When it is in a human, it coats or overlaps our own molecules, but won't mix with them.

"The second kind, which Cyclone was using and which we all have inside us at the moment, is replacing ectoplasm. This kind will actually replace rather than coat molecules, and it is created from the other kind through the application of very strong electromagnetic energy of a certain frequency. It is the source of ghost powers in non-possessed people, halfas included. Danny and Will got it forced into their DNA during their accidents; it's what allows them to switch forms." Jack wrestled a large rectangular board onstage and placed it on the easel. He left the stage again. The audience remained focused on Maddie.

"Cyclone was able to send out replacing ectoplasm that was attracted to the organic molecules in our bodies," his wife continued. "It was filling the space between them and slowly crowding them out, meaning that our bodies were slowly turning into ectoplasm and if it had continued, we would have become full ghosts. Danny and Will were close to this point yesterday, when they became stuck in their ghost forms.

"The molecules we were losing were slowly returning to Cyclone and beginning to form a human body for him. Jack and I believe that this movement was due to a high concentration of replacing ectoplasm in his own ectoplasmic makeup, which our detached molecules were attracted to. Cyclone's goal was to become a halfa and get the resulting stronger powers, but the molecular migration was slow since it relied on the freed molecules being in the air to begin with. While he'd nearly achieved halfa status by the time he was defeated, most of the molecules leeched from us had not made it to him."

The audience relaxed as one. Phantom and Spirit hadn't been going up against an equal, then. And there was hope for everyone if Cyclone hadn't taken their humanity with him.Behind Maddie, Jack returned, carrying a rolled-up poster and started putting it up on the easel. He dropped a tack and bumped into the easel as he bent down to pick it up. The board fell on top of him and several members of the audience laughed, easing the tension further.

"Once there is ectoplasm in a person's body," Maddie went on, after being assured by Jack that he _meant_ to do that, "it begins to work its way inward to the body's energy centers, the mitochondria, which will work to amplify the ectoplasmic vibrations. This is what allows humans to exhibit ghost powers in general; someone whose powers come from possessing ectoplasm won't have even moderate powers, because that sort of ectoplasm doesn't interact with Real World biology. The transformation ability of the halfas is due to their DNA itself being a mixture of ectoplasm and normal atoms, and that is only possible if a massive electric shock accompanies possessing ectoplasm into the body. Because our molecules were being replaced wholesale over time, none of us would have gotten this ability." A rash of whispers started up in the auditorium and Maddie quickly cut over the noise as Jack got the board back into place and starting tacking the poster up again.

"Now, I'd like to point out that appearances are deceptive. There is more ectoplasm within us than you would expect by the physical signs. Ectoplasm is much more flexible and malleable than regular matter, so it's able to fill the spaces between our molecules. However, we would need a lot of ectoplasm in us to become true halfas. The opposite would have gone for Cyclone, who needed to feed off the entire town just to get powers approximating Danny's or Will's."

Jack finished with the poster, which showed a blown-up version of a human cell, with insets showing the organelles. Maddie took the microphone off its stand and took a pointer that was apparently drifting onstage of its own accord.

"The mechanism which amplifies the ghost powers is based in cellular biology. This," Maddie said firmly, tapping a red ovoid on the screen, "is a mitochondrion. It is where the reactions that give organisms energy take place. Every one of our cells has several of these structures. Now, when ectoplasm finds its way into the mitochondria and attaches itself to the molecule responsible for the reaction, it increases the molecule's reactivity. In other words, the molecule will produce twice to three times as much power than it normally would, and this is what magnifies ghost powers to human levels. Also, the more ectoplasm someone has in their body, the stronger the powers will be, but this is likely to do with the fact that more of these energy molecules would be affected.

"The amplification mechanism works better if the ectoplasm is organized rather than scattered randomly throughout the body. Since true halfas have ectoplasm in predictable places, such as their DNA and their cell walls, and generally have it more integrated than the rest of us, who have globs of it in our blood and lungs, and replacing every possible part of our cells..." Maddie tapped the screen in several places. "... it's only to be expected that we won't be as powerful as they are, and frankly, I wouldn't want to be. This also means that they were more organized than Cyclone, who was just simply collecting our molecules without giving them any structure, which gave our side the advantage.

"However," Maddie said loudly to quiet the again noisy audience, "Jack and I theorize that when the halfas started out, they were more like you and me and not in control of their powers due to the fact that their ectoplasm _was_ scattered randomly. Naturally, it would have become more organized once proteins started being built based on their new DNA code and these proteins moved to every part of their bodies. This won't happen to us though, since we don't have ectoplasm in our DNA, to the best of our knowledge."

"After extensive research, Jack and I have concluded that replacing ectoplasm is basically an electromagnetically altered form of possessing ectoplasm, and as such is unstable. When it is about to disintegrate, it gains even more energy, which will allow it to either decay, if it's surrounded only by ectoplasm, or revert to and remain replacing ectoplasm if it is in contact with regular molecules. If it decays, it will release a large amount of electromagnetic energy as it does so. We believe this may be the power source behind ectoblasts, and possibly other powers as well. Also, Jack and I have found evidence that there needs to be a specific amount of normal molecules for the body to remain stabilize. We don't know what that ratio is yet, but we would predict that something made mostly of replacing ectoplasm would be highly unstable. In other words, if we'd continued absorbing ectoplasm, we would likely have disintegrated about the same time we became full ghosts."

Everybody in the room turned to each other frantically and the noise level shot up higher than it had been earlier. The journalists in the corner began calling out questions over top of everything, and the onslaught continued for about a minute before Maddie held up a hand to quiet everyone down again.

"Questions after, please," she said gently before continuing. "At this point, we would like to announce some good and bad news. We're not going to say which is which, because everyone is going to take this differently. For those of us with ghost powers above average in some way, these powers might regress slightly but they won't ever disappear naturally. Too much ectoplasm has permeated the body to allow that, and yes, it appears to be within the limits of stability. Those of us with weaker or more basic powers will lose these over time, however, since the ectoplasm level must also be above a certain threshold to be self-sustaining, or its levels will drop. Since the amount of ectoplasm is proportional to the strength of our powers, the ghostly abilities will diminish.Of course, Jack and I can remove the ectoplasm thoroughly and painlessly with the Fenton Ghost Catcher. We'll have that set up in the parking lot after the conference if anyone's interested."

Her speech finished, Maddie turned the floor over to the audience and the reporters, and she and Jack fielded questions about their theory and its implications for the townsfolk for nearly an hour. Then Lancer, still looking shy and nervous, came out to offer a few slightly pat words of encouragement and promise to close the press conference off. The auditorium emptied slowly and people filed out, talking amongst themselves, and Jack and Maddie headed off to the Ghost Assault Vehicle to set up the Ghost Catcher for a surprisingly small number of people. Lancer returned backstage where the rest of Team Phantom still was, and after making sure that everyone was doing all right emotionally, started organizing the cleanup. He and Danny were forced by their girlfriends not to help out, so they ended up standing on the side looking lost and uncomfortable while everyone tidied up around them.

---

Team Phantom sequestered itself at FentonWorks for the rest of the afternoon, trying to work through everything they hadn't discussed yet, including GEIST, school, public appearances, and the national media, as well as exactly how they were going to deal with the ghosts Vlad had rounded up. It became very obvious very quickly that everyone in the Team was going to be busy for at least half a year before things settled down to normal again and that the repercussions of the morning were going to stay with them for years, as would the lingering ghost powers of the former full humans. It took Aster's mid-afternoon reappearance with a gigantic Christmas tree and several large shopping bags to get everyone to stop working and relax.

At the moment, Lancer was standing in the Op Center looking out over the city. It was the only place where he could get a bit of peace and quiet just to think right now. Maddie and Valerie had gone into the kitchen to start on the Christmas baking. Cathy and Sam had covered the coffee table with fashion catalogues and seemed to be planning wardrobes to accentuate their boyfriends' attractiveness, now that there wasn't need to hide their heroic muscle tone. Lancer was staying far away from _that_.

Jack, Tucker, and Damon, who everyone had agreed might as well be made a part of things, were tinkering with something in the lab, and Danny had taken Jazz, Sam, and Writer into the Ghost Zone with the Speeder to pick up a few of the former ghost's things. Aster and Dani had rushed into the backyard and Lancer could see them holding a snowball fight around a large snowman with four arms and fangs. He rolled his eyes fondly and moved to the opposite window where he could see the downtown core. His mind wandered to the conversations he'd had backstage that morning at press conference.

He'd been forced into attending Sam's parents' Halfa Ball, which apparently had existed for about ten minutes by that point. Danny and Dani would have to come as well, but they didn't appear to mind as much because they'd immediately formed a huddle with Sam. The word "Aster" had drifted over at several points. The Mansons had also told Lancer how thrilled they were that Sam was dating Phantom and seemed perfectly willing for their daughter to continue the relationship. Sam had later told everyone at FentonWorks that this was probably the only time she'd every be glad they were shallow, and that she planned to use "Phantom" as leverage against them in the future.

Mr. and Mrs. Foley had come backstage after the conference was finished to tell the Team they'd allow Tucker to remain a part of it, provided he wasn't actually fighting ghosts and remained on the technology side of things. They'd also had a few worries about the safety of ghost hunting even then, and had been reassured about things by everyone involved. Tucker had pointed out that despite being involved in a ghost attack at least twice a week for the last two years, he'd only come home injured five times, and 'those had only been because he'd saved Phantom's life.' He assured them he usually played the part of researcher and repairman, and that calmed his parents down a lot. They'd insisted on being kept in the loop about things, and Tucker had agreed to keep them informed as often as possible.

Casper High's staff had been as stunned as Ishiyama had been. Most seemed awed to be in his presence and highly supportive of him in general, and Lancer (and Cathy) had taken pleasure in watching Ms. Testlaff, the gym and health teacher and Lancer's rival while he'd been teaching, all but grovel at his feet. Everyone had promised to ease up on Danny and the other teenaged Team members in class, and someone had suggested working on alternate education strategies for the four of them. Spears had been so embarrassed and nervous that Lancer had had to corner him during the pack-up and mention aliens, of all things, to get him to relax a little.

Lancer sighed as he leaned against the glass of the Op Center. Things definitely weren't normal anymore, but they _were_ looking up for the Team. The kids would be able to lead lives of acceptance, the Fentons would have access to an entire _city _of people with ghost powers, Cathy would get to hold her boyfriend over her ex-husband's head, Writer and Aster no longer had to feel a lack of humanity, and Lancer didn't have to worry about lying any longer. He smiled softly to himself.

A woman's call brought him out of his reverie and, noting that the laughter in the back yard had turned to shouts, Lancer crossed the floor again to just catch Dani and Aster reentering the house. Night had fallen while he'd been thinking, and now it was time for dinner. Lancer said a quick "_Ghost World_" and phased himself down into the kitchen, where everyone else was doing last minute preparations or milling around. He pitched in immediately, moving the heavy casserole dish onto the table with his mind, much to Maddie's pleased surprise, then turned human and joined everyone in sitting down. Christmas was in the air and after Lancer's reflection, he felt at complete peace with the world. He lifted his glass with a grin.

"To the future."

**The End**

_Stay tuned for the epilogue, which should answer most, if not all, of the questions I've left you with right now. My Christmas vacation technically starts tomorrow, so any reviews, PMs, etc. that get sent my way after about midnight tonight probably won't be answered until I get back to normal internet access mid next week. My parents still have dial-up, sadly, and besides, I want to visit with them a litttle._


	10. Future

_Thanks to Quacked Lurker, YumeTakato, HiddenAuthor, Snickerer, m3, and Shadow Crystal Mage. Your reviews made me feel all mushy inside! (And yes, I know I haven't replied to reviews yet. I will. Promise.) This is everyone else's last chance to do the same. Take advantage of it, or you'll regret it forever! _

**Epilogue: Future**

_I don't own Danny Phantom or anything by Bob Dylan. Wish I did. Maybe if I rigged up a time machine?_

July 4th dawned bright and sunny and everyone in Amity Park was outside celebrating. The Christmas of 2006, which had changed the town forever, was only a memory now. It wasn't talked about much anymore, but the paranormal was present wherever you went in the town, so much so that the billboard that welcomed visitors to the city now read _Welcome to Amity Park: Where the Paranormal is Normal_. Amity Park was doing a brisk tourist business because of it, and it had also become the center of American paranormal research. The Fentons, who had become a household name, did most of the technological work, while Vlad Masters led the scientific front from his new mansion outside of town. The Guys in White would have been stationed there too, if the government hadn't pulled all funding from the program in early 2007, following a violent outcry regarding their policies on ghosts and treatment of Danny Phantom.

The park was the center of activity today, with children playing, couples walking together, and people tossing frisbees to their dogs. A blond man in a tie-dyed shirt sat with his back against a tree, facing the lake and playing an old song on his guitar, completely absorbed in the moment.

_Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam,_

_And admit that the waters around you have grown, _

_And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone,_

_If your time to you is worth savin'._

_And you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,_

_For the times, they are a-changin'._

The ectoplasmic contamination that Cyclone had caused had dissipated by now, so levitating buildings and possessed supermarkets were a thing of the past. However, there were still a number of people in Amity Park who had minor ghost powers, since the powers were too cool and useful for most of the townspeople to voluntarily give up. The people whose powers had been weak at the beginning had lost theirs entirely, completely providing the theory the Fentons had put forth at the first press conference. Everyone had lost their obsessions and ghostly features, too. Nobody was anywhere close to being like the halfas, and neither would their children be. Danny Fenton and Will Lancer had held several workshops to teach the "partas" to use their powers responsibly, and by now it had become a fact of life that people could shoot ectoblasts or become invisible.

_Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen,_

_And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again,_

_And don't speak too soon, for the wheel's still in spin,_

_And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'._

_For the loser now will be later to win,_

_For the times, they are a changin'._

After things had settled down again and people had accepted Danny, Dani, and Lancer for what they were, Team Phantom and its affiliates had begun working to integrate the ghosts Vlad had rounded up into society. Jazz Fenton had spent her summers and spare time, along with several friends from Yale, counseling these ghosts to help them kick their obsessions. When she felt they had been successful, they were offered the chance to stay out of the Ghost Zone permanently, with Team Phantom keeping a watchful eye on them.

Ember and Sam resurrected P.A.R.T.Y ("alternative radio, whatever your life status") and it had met with enough success that after a few years they hired a few teenagers to act as DJs and now acted as supervisors only. Ember played a concert every so often, just for fun.

Dora bought a house with a large yard in one of the new subdivisions that sprang up following the tourist boom. She now ran the most popular preschool in the Greater Amity Park area. Notable children in her care were Box Lunch, Sarah Thirteen, and Davey Fenton.

Technus moved into Tucker's attic and split his time between Tucker's revolutionary computer company, which used ghost and human technology, and the Fenton's lab. Skulker now trained the local cadet regiment and helped coach football at Casper High. Desiree started a popular cosmetic brand, _Genie_ ("Your wish is guaranteed").

Not all ghosts took the chance at a normal life, though. Poindexter felt out of place in the modern human world, but would visit from time to time. Spectra had no desire to leave the Ghost Zone under the conditions Team Phantom had set, so went about her afterlife as normal ghosts did. Bertrand stayed with her only out of loyalty.

Walker couldn't get past the idea of century-long sentences, so stayed in the Ghost Zone where he could still exercise such control. However, his jail was registered as the highest-security prison in America, and he had a few human inmates awaiting the death penalty. He'd also promised that death would not necessarily end their sentences.

_Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call._

_Don't stand in the doorway, don't lock up the hall,_

_For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled_

_The battle outside ragin'._

_For it'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls,_

_For the times, they are a-changin'._

Outside of Amity Park, people were still wary of ghosts, but not as much as they had been. This was helped along by public broadcasts along the lines of Lancer's GEIST lectures and public appearances by the nicer ghosts, such as Dora and the Dairy King. The younger generations were much warmer to ghosts than their parents and grandparents, and in several other paranormal hotspots similar things to what was happening in Amity Park were beginning to take place.

Ectoplasm-based technology, on the other hand, had become indispensable. Berry, Tucker's computer company, was a huge step forward from the other computers on the market. Ectosleds such as Valerie's were commonplace, but required a license, as would the ectocars to be released in a year's time. A bulletproof vest with ectoshield capabilities was just entering the testing stage, and police officers had already replaced tasers with ectostunners. Ghostproof materials developed by the Fentons were making their way into building materials, furniture, and even cooking utensils. The hottest toy on the market was a miniature Ecto-Coater with reduced capabilities. Several governments worldwide had ghost portals, and most of the Ghost Zone had been mapped now. The U.S. was starting a trade alliance.

_Come mothers and fathers throughout the land,_

_And don't criticize what you can't understand._

_Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command._

_Your old road is rapidly agin'._

_Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand,_

_For the times, they are a-changin'._

Tucker Foley was a multimillionaire by twenty thanks to Berry. He had been seriously dating Valerie Gray for three years and the blonde singer had recently seen him near a jewelry store. Tucker had let her and Sam give him a makeover a few years ago, and the body that puberty and ghost fighting had given him was now at least moderately showcased. Tucker often collaborated with the Fentons and Vlad as well, since he had a fair amount of technological know-how that they found useful.

Val was currently traveling around the country giving lessons to the military on the use of ectoweapons. She came home as often as possible to visit Tucker, the Fentons, and her aging father, who still ran security at Axion Labs, but she was gone most of the time. She'd also helped Danny a few years ago with a minor uprising in the Ghost Zone, but for the most part her hunting days were over. There was no need anymore.

Jazz Fenton had used her summer psychology practice to get a full scholarship to Harvard for her doctorate, and was now doing her thesis on treating ghost obsessions. She had already been offered a number of jobs in the burgeoning field, and was having a hard time choosing between them.

Dash Baxter hadn't gotten into college on a football scholarship because his lingering ghost powers constituted "physical enhancement." He had attended the local community college instead, and was now essentially a ghost parole officer for the city. His wife of two years, Paulina, was an assistant for the Amity Park PR department, working alongside Kitty Thirteen to make promotional and educational videos. Paulina and Kitty had plans to shoot a Hollywood-style movie using ghost actors, provided they got the funding.

Kwan Kim attended a mid-level college and was now back in Amity Park working to set up a medical practice specializing in ghost medicine. Over the years, the Fentons had discovered a lot about ghost and halfa physiology, and Kwan had been given full access to their material. It would be a small practice, but a groundbreaking one. Star Schein, who'd gotten a nursing degree at the same school Dash attended, would be working with him.

_The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast,_

_The slow one now will later be fast,_

_As the present now will later be past._

_The order is rapidly fadin'._

_And the first one now will later be last_

_For the times, they are a-changin'._

Danny Fenton had married Sam Manson two years after they graduated from high school. They had a place of their own now, in a high-end neighbourhood that Sam had ensured by any means necessary wasn't full of snobs. Danny, Lancer, and Danny's parents had worked for three years to get Amity Park where it was today, and Danny no longer had to worry about more than the occasional new ghost who still believed in the old way of things. He now divided his time between studying chemistry, helping out where needed in Amity Park, doing publicity work, and teaching Davey to use his powers.

Sam had campaigned for ghost and parta rights in Amity Park during the Restructuring. She also spent a lot of her time doing publicity, but she made sure that both she and her husband spent time with their two-year-old on a daily basis. There were rumours that she planned to enter politics full-time once Davey started school.

William Lancer had been elected Mayor of Amity Park a year ago. GEIST had served its purpose and the previous administration had phased it out three years ago, but Lancer had used his experience with the program as the basis for his campaign. Of course, it certainly helped that he was one of the town heroes and every citizen of the town could identify with him. Under his supervision, Amity Park's "golden age" had become even more golden. He had stopped teaching at Ghost Zone High, but only because most of the students there had transferred to Casper and were being taught by the regular staff.

Cathy Sanders had talked Lancer into moving out of his apartment into a modest house near FentonWorks, so that they had space for entertaining and running civic programs, and could let Dani have space of her own. She worked behind the scenes, preparing speech notes and ensuring that her boyfriend stayed on schedule.

Dani Lancer had been able to enjoy a fairly normal teenage life in Amity Park, working hard to keep her popularity in check. Because she hadn't attended school and so was nine years behind her peers, she had been homeschooled. Cathy had taught most of the humanities, with Lancer helping when he had a chance. The Fentons had taught her math and science. Vlad had offered to help as well, but Dani still hadn't trusted him. The girl had signed up for karate lessons at Valerie's old dojo, where she'd made a number of friends. She was now where she needed to be for graduation, and was planning on studying education come September.

_The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast,_

_The slow one now will later be fast,_

_As the present now will later be past._

_The order is rapidly fadin'._

_And the first one now will later be last_

_For the times, they are a-changin'._

The singer finished the song and relaxed his hold on his guitar, and only then noticed the pale man standing beside him holding a paperback.

"He's a brilliant lyricist," the newcomer said, slightly enviously.

The blonde man stood up and slung his guitar over his back. "He's still around, you know. You could visit him, Geoff."

Geoffrey Wolvington sighed. "I know. I prefer listening. I'm sorry I missed the era."

The musician grinned in understanding. "It was pretty fun."

Wolvington had done well for himself since the Restructuring. The memory of his past life had returned a few days after he'd been hit with Cyclone's humanity, and his first step after he'd readjusted was to hire a lawyer and successfully get all the royalties his work had earned in the past two hundred years (adjusting for inflation) turned over to him, based on the fact that he'd never fully died. This had given him enough money to live comfortably while writing, and he'd already published a best-selling novel based on his experiences in the Ghost Zone.

His companion had also regained his memory, but refused to say much about his past. Aster, as he insisted he still be called, spent his days doing odd jobs, tending a little plot of land behind Wolvington's house, and helping Dani prank people around the city. Danny had given him a guitar for his fifty-fifth birthday, and he'd taken to playing folk anthems whenever he could. His happy-go-lucky attitude had earned him a lot of friends among Amity Park's citizens, though many of them got irritated by it at times as well. He'd struck up an odd friendship with Cathy Sanders, which involved food exchanges, reminiscing about the hippie era, Dani, and coordinating their teasing of Lancer for maximum effect.

"We should probably get to the town square," Wolvington suggested. "They'll be unveiling the statue of Will and Danny in about half an hour, and then we've got the banquet and the fireworks."

Aster nodded, and two fuchsia rings appeared at his waist, changing his white skin into a bright pink and revealing the peace sign necklace that still made up for his lack of powers. Geoff Wolvington did the same, though his rings were a deep purple. Once his transformation was complete, he nodded at Aster, who grinned back at him, and the world's only two teteras, with just enough real-world molecules to have two forms, but no powers beyond the basics, took to the air in the direction of City Hall and the celebration of everything that had changed in the last ten years.

The (Very) End And that, folks, is officially the end of the Spirit Quintology. Eight months, five stories , 115, 323 words, and currently 12, 021 hits. Wow. Thanks, everyone! I never imagined this would happen when I dreamed Will up in March. I thought it was just going to be one story, like all the others that get passed over on a daily basis, but I got hits, reviews, watchers, and friends out of the deal. Lots of 'em! And over the course of everything I've discovered that writing is what I really want to do with my life. Who'd'a' thunk it, eh? Now, there are a couple things left to say about Spirit… 

_First of all, anyone who wants to do fanart or fanfiction based on the people of the Spiritverse is welcome to do so, if they let me know they're doing it. I'd like to see the results, too, out of interest. All I really ask, if you post your work, is that I be credited with any of the ideas you use that appeared first in my stories (Spirit, Aster, Cathy, Cyclone, backstories, inventions, characterizations, etc.)._

_Second, Aster, who's proclaimed himself Esme's Muse, keeps bringing up the idea of the Spiritverse resurfacing to mark special occasions like holidays and anniversaries. I keep telling him it's a bad idea and I really don't want to go there, but so far he hasn't been paying attention. Depending how well he argues this winter, there may or may not be a Spirit-oriented oneshot for Feb. 14, my one-year anniversary, April Fool's Day, and so forth._

_Third and last, I will be reposting _Much Ado About Nothing_ starting in a day or two. Once that is finished, I'm going to be doing a bit of tweaking (but probably no actual reposting) in _Comedy of Errors_ and _The Tempest_, to get everything to match up properly again. _

_Also, and unrelated to Spirit, I'm planning/hoping to get back into writing _Ghost of Myself_ and _The Phantom._ I'd blocked on them, and then school and Spirit took over, but I should be able to move slowly towards continuing both of those in 2007._

_Once again, thanks everyone so much for their support of me, however you've shown it. It's greatly appreciated and you have no idea how much it's changed my life! You're the best, you really are!_


End file.
